Nakama
by LinSetsu
Summary: Kakashi isn't obsessed with the rules. Obito isn't a crybaby dropout. Midori is a kunoichi who isn't afraid to stand her ground. A stronger team with stronger bonds, Team Minato faces the Third Shinobi War. From political intrigue to historic battles - through death, loss and the weight of wills. [Part III: Jounin Exam]
1. Part I: Seeds of War, Chapter 1

**Full Summary**

Kakashi isn't obsessed with the rules. Obito isn't a crybaby dropout. Midori is Rin's cousin and isn't afraid to stand her ground. In a stronger team with stronger bonds, Team Minato faces the Third Shinobi War. From political intrigue to historic battles - through death, loss and the weight of wills - they learn what it really means to be shinobi: "the ones who endure."

* * *

See bottom of chapter for Author's Note

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

 **Prologue:**

The snow silenced everything – as if each flake drifting from the sky froze the air, absorbing all sound and rendering the world still. It isolated Hatake Kakashi in the darkness of winter's eve, standing alone before the Memorial Stone.

They were all gone. His father, his team, his teacher, his friends. One by one, they had slipped through his fingers, no matter how hard he had fought, how fast he had run, or how strongly he had gripped their dying hands to keep them grounded to this world.

He had killed them all with his weakness.

For all these years, strength was all he had sought. Love and kindness weren't enough to fulfill the two most basic pillars in a shinobi's life: to accomplish missions and protect one's comrades. Strength had been everything and yet he had failed, time and time again.

None of them had deserved to die. Kakashi should have been the first to go. They had had big dreams, hopes, warm families and a love for life. Kakashi had none of that. Yet here he stood, alive, to face a world in which no one was left to stand by his side.

What he wouldn't give to be with them again, to hear their voices one more time and be surrounded by their laughter. His time would come soon, of that he was sure. Until then, he would carry their wills and bear the pain and emptiness of his heart as atonement for all the lives he had failed to save.

"Obito."

He undid the bandages wrapped around the left half of his face and let them fall onto the white frosted ground. Gingerly raising his injured arms, he lifted the Konoha hitai-ate in his hand and tied it in place. For the first time, he opened both his eye and Obito's.

"I swear to you, Obito."

Never again would he fail for as long as he lived.

A hand rose to the Sharingan.

"On this eye."

* * *

 **Part I: Seeds of War**

 **Chapter One:**

[8 years earlier]

"It's still here..."

Kakashi stood in front of the Hatake household and wondered why no one had bothered to tear it down yet. It was the first time in over a year that he was standing beneath the entrance gates. Though the wood was slowly being overrun by moss, it felt sturdy under his hand as he pushed it open and didn't squeak like the front door of his current apartment.

He stepped over the threshold of the property and slowly walked to the main house, finding the door unlocked just as he had left it a week after his father's death. The house smelled of mildew and desertion. He stepped up, not even bothering to take off his shoes. Dust and dirt carried inside by stray animals layered the once polished wooden floors. As Kakashi made his way down the dim hallway, a rat scurried in front of him and disappeared into a hole in the wall.

He passed the kitchen and living area without sparing a glance into the rooms and only slowed when he neared his father's room at the far end of the corridor. It looked out on a small inner garden – or whatever was left of it. Weeds had long overgrown the bonsai trees his father had been fond of and all the flowers had wilted into dirt. The little pond where Kakashi had first practiced standing on water was now nothing more than a pool of mud.

Kakashi looked around the room. It was just as he had left it. Sakumo had kept very little in life and Kakashi had thrown out what few keepsakes he had possessed the day after his funeral. The only signs that Sakumo had once occupied this room was the wooden ranma above the door, carved with the Hatake crest, and a faint, black stain on the tatami floor where his father had gutted himself.

He couldn't smell the blood anymore.

Walking into the room, Kakashi stood in front of the stain and stared at it with blank eyes for a long moment. He remembered the medics making a half-hearted effort to rub the blood clean and idly reflected that they hadn't done a very good job. Then again, Kakashi had never even tried.

"I passed the Chuunin exam, Father," he said at last.

He wondered if he should add anything else – wondered if his father was even listening, or if his eyes were still as dull and empty as the last time he had seen them.

"Don't worry," he found himself saying, remembering Hatake Sakumo's last words. "I'll protect my comrades and I'll never fail to accomplish the mission. I won't be weak like you. I won't make the same mistakes. I'll grow stronger than you ever were."

It wasn't hatred that he held toward his father, or even shame for that matter. If anything, it was indifference. His father had died for his weakness. Nothing more and nothing less. He had said so himself. Kakashi wasn't one to judge how other shinobi lived their lives and accepted that some would always be weaker than others. As he saw it, the weak failed and the strong succeeded.

But a small voice in the back of his head continued to nag him. What was strength? What had Sakumo been trying to tell him that night? The discrepancy that pricked deep inside his chest when he thought of his father as weak wouldn't go away. Or was it because he still didn't know how to come to grips with his suicide? Kakashi frowned. The thought troubled him.

Even as he turned it carefully over in his mind, he found no answer, just a blank wall. Indifference, he told himself.

The house felt suddenly too oppressive so he turned on his heels and stalked out.

Taking a deep breath as he shut the gate behind him, Kakashi looked to the sky. It was just past noon. He recalled Minato saying he would be at the hospital looking in on his two other teammates so he headed toward the village center.

"Kakashi?"

He turned to see a small girl trotting toward him, the smile on her gentle face framed by a bob of brown hair.

"Rin."

"I thought it was you," she said. "I heard about your promotion. Congratulations!"

"Thanks."

"I can't believe you're already a Chuunin. Everyone at the Academy's talking about you."

Kakashi looked away and shrugged. He knew most of the children at the Academy held more jealousy than awe, which was fine. He could ignore that. Rin's eyes, on the other hand, had always held pure admiration and that made him uncomfortable. He was relieved when Rin chattered on and changed the subject.

"Sorry to hear Obito and Midori didn't pass. I'm glad they made it back alright though." A worried frown crossed her face. "I heard the final exam was brutal."

Kakashi thought back to the bloody battle royale that had ended with fatal casualties and his teammates being blown unconscious for two days. He understood why it hadn't been open to the public, so he didn't feel the need to give Rin the details. He said simply, "Your cousin needs someone to drive the concept of danger into her brain."

Rin searched Kakashi's eyes for a second and then her lips turned up in a quiet giggle. "You know where Midori gets her headstrong personality? Our grandmother. She used to be a kunoichi in the Hidden Sand Village before she met Grandfather. That's also where Midori got her talent for wind." She hesitated and then added with another mischievous smile, "Among other qualities."

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, already knowing full well what those were by now.

Rin tilted her head and looked up at Kakashi with a wistful smile. "I'm so jealous. I wish I were in your team. They say Team Minato will be the strongest in our generation, what with you being a genius, Obito an elite from the Uchiha Clan, and Midori with her element."

"If only they'd start acting like it," he mumbled.

Rin smiled broadly. "It hasn't even been a year since you graduated the Academy, but it feels so long ago already. You were always top of the class and Midori and Obito were always competing for second place." She paused and dipped her head. "Who won in the end?"

"Midori. Obito got caught stealing an A-rank ninjutsu scroll from the library and ran out of time to finish the written exams."

"That sounds just like him," Rin laughed. "It's still amazing he graduated in third place."

"Only because he made it for practical combat."

"For all the silly things he does, he _is_ strong isn't he? You all are. I've never been able to best Midori in a spar."

"You just have different talents. Your chakra control is better than any of ours."

"You think so? Father's from a clan of medics. I'm hoping to take after him."

"That's good. We could use a medic on the team."

Rin brightened. "Really?"

Kakashi nodded. "Between Obito's craziness and Midori's recklessness, someone needs to patch them up every time they run into danger without a second thought."

Rin smothered a laugh behind her hand. "Isn't that where you come in, Kakashi?"

"I suppose."

Rin glanced at the sky and made a face. "I have to go. We have class in the training fields. Are you going to the hospital?"

He nodded.

"I wish I could go with you." She looked genuinely disappointed. "Say hi to Obito and Midori for me."

"I will," Kakashi said and watched her continue down the street. He turned and headed in the opposite direction.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi walked through the hospital gate in time to hear Midori's outraged voice coming from the far side of the gardens. Threading his way between saplings and bushes, he listened to Obito's words being drowned out by Midori's rant about the final exam, a demand for a re-match and, when told that wasn't possible, a string of curses and complaints that would have made a veteran soldier proud.

"Not fair?" Minato laughed. "What are you talking about? You three are officially the youngest participants in shinobi history to take the Chuunin exam."

Kakashi turned a final bend in the garden path and found Midori on her feet, heedless of the bandages wrapped around her head and legs. Her hands were fisted in her hair, her eyes wide and furious.

"Speak of the devil," Obito said from his seat on a bench. He too sported similar bandages around his head, a memento from the explosion during the exam.

Midori and Minato both turned, but before his teacher could utter a word, his teammate was already in his face, her hands fisted in his shirt, and shaking him with all her strength. "Kakashi, I'm going to kill you right here and now!"

Kakashi seemed to remember saving her from _being_ killed, but kept the fact to himself.

It was difficult to miss the physical similarities between Rin and Midori. He knew their mothers were identical twins, but had it not been for Midori's lack of facial markings and her polar opposite personality, no one would have believed their fathers were from different clans. Not that it mattered, he thought, now that he knew this temper came from further up the family tree.

"Calm down," Kakashi said. "It's not such a big deal. If you would only work on your self-control – "

Midori's response was a vicious uppercut, which Kakashi only just managed to jerk back from. He dodged through a rain of blows and landed beside Obito. Midori lunged after him, only to be snatched around the waist by their teacher.

"Let me go, sensei!"

"Please, Midori, I can already hear the nurses complaining," Minato chuckled.

"Good job," Obito drawled.

Kakashi sighed. "I didn't think she'd be this mad."

They watched Minato trying to calm their teammate struggling in his arms like a spitting cat.

"Really?" Obito asked, brow raised.

"…I guess I had a vague idea."

Obito laughed and then tipped his head back to look up at Kakashi with a grin. "Congrats."

Kakashi stuck his hands in his pockets. "Thanks, I suppose. Here." He pulled out a pair of square goggles and dangled them in front of his teammate's face. For a moment Obito was surprised to see them, but he quickly recovered and grinned widely.

"I thought I'd lost these in the exam," he said, fixing them loosely over his eyes. "Ah, all's good in the world now."

"I don't know about that, but those must be the world's toughest goggles. They were lying right under a cracked boulder with hardly a scratch."

"It'll take much more than just an explosion to break these," Obito touted proudly. He grinned. "Thanks for picking them up."

"Anytime."

Minato released Midori, who looked marginally calmer but still highly dissatisfied, and turned to all three of his students. "Now then, Obito, Midori, it's time you headed back to your rooms. The nurses said you could leave by noon tomorrow and we'll continue our missions."

With reluctant but obedient replies, the two turned and disappeared down the path leading to the hospital, leaving Minato and Kakashi alone in the garden.

"Why aren't you wearing your vest?" Minato asked.

"It's too big," Kakashi replied. "I don't need it."

Minato chuckled. "I suppose they didn't expect any six year olds to pass the Chuunin exam."

Kakashi didn't say anything as the two walked out.

"Kakashi?"

The boy looked up at his teacher, who had stopped just outside the hospital gate. The piercing blue eyes were looking at him in a way that made him feel uncomfortably vulnerable.

"Is everything okay?" Minato asked.

Kakashi had been careful to act normal – to not let the darkness that had yet to settle show in his words or actions. But no matter how careful he was, he could never seem to fool his teacher.

"I'm fine sensei," he said then quickly changed the subject. "Do you have any assignments for me today?"

Minato stared at him for a moment longer and then finally broke eye contact to shake his head. "Take a break. We'll meet at one o'clock tomorrow on the bridge."

"Hai," Kakashi replied with a nod and then leapt away in a blur of movement.

.-.-.-.

Minato sighed as he watched the young prodigy leave. He wondered if it had been the best decision to let the boy go, but he knew nothing would come from forcing down the walls Kakashi had erected. _Give him time_ , he thought to himself. What the boy needed most right now was time and a team he could trust.

With that, he turned and headed to the Hokage's administration building.

Navigating the hallways, Minato turned a corner and came face-to-face with Danzo. He bowed respectfully and fell in step with the older shinobi. Somehow, he wasn't surprised they had both been summoned by their leader.

"Congratulations on one of your team making Chuunin," Danzo said.

"Thank you. I'm grateful they all made it back safe." His lips thinned. "I'm sure you know some didn't."

In recent years the frequent skirmishes along all borders of the Five Countries had reached a point where it could no longer be overlooked as mission hostilities. Each Hidden Village knew who was friend and who was foe – for now – and had stood ready for open war.

Then unexpectedly, the Sand had proposed a Chuunin exam to be held. Konoha had agreed, followed by the Cloud and Rock. Minato knew a large part of Konoha's quick acceptance had been through Danzo's influence. He couldn't say he agreed with the older man's motives, but he understood them. All the Villages had entered for just one reason: to flex their muscles. It was the perfect platform to demonstrate their strengths, guised as it was by children.

"I've seen the reports," Danzo replied. "Three incapacitated, eight temporarily in the hospital and six promoted to Chuunin. It's not a bad outcome."

Minato remained silent. Konoha had certainly emerged with the most promotions but at what cost? Three would never fight again as ninjas. Their dreams were crushed. Luckily they had avoided fatal casualties but the Rocks and Clouds had each lost one of their children. Regardless of the times they lived in, Minato couldn't help but think that the Chuunin exams should be changed.

They reached the Hokage's office to find the Third sitting at his desk with a dark expression. A scroll lay open before him. "The Sand have formally agreed on an alliance," he explained. "One of their teams was openly slaughtered by the Mists last night."

"Just one?" Danzo asked.

"That's one too many," Hiruzen replied. "I should have suspected they were up to something when they refused to join the Chuunin exams."

"You never know what those sly Mists are thinking," Danzo said.

Minato felt his brows rising and quickly schooled his face into blank neutrality. Danzo was the slyest man _he_ knew of at least.

Whether aware of the slip or not, Danzo continued. "It may have been a single occurrence. My sources tell me they haven't made any moves to side with other Hidden Villages."

"Whatever the case, this now makes us formal enemies. The Sands are sending a group of forces east for retribution as we speak."

"Do you need me to lend assistance?" Minato asked.

The Third shook his head. "I'll leave that to Danzo to organize."

"As you wish," Danzo replied. "What of the envoy to the Hidden Cloud?"

"The last I heard from them was three days ago when they were denied a meeting with the Raikage. I've told them to persevere."

"You know it's fruitless."

Hiruzen frowned. "That doesn't mean I won't try to stop this foolish war from happening. It's not as if you've forgotten how badly the last one cost us."

Danzo shrugged wordlessly.

"Minato," Hiruzen went on. "You and your team will be assigned a mission to Rock Country tomorrow. It's a civilian client, but I need you to do what you can to discern their standing."

"Hai."

The Hokage sighed quietly, the shadows deepening in his eyes.

"So the storm brews," Danzo murmured.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi slowed down once he left the larger masses of houses and people and found himself in the training grounds. He drifted through the trees, searching for a place where he could work on some ninjutsu techniques. He hadn't gone far when he paused on a large oak tree overlooking an Academy class practicing shuriken skills.

He caught sight of Rin and recognized several other faces from the class he had graduated from. Silently, he slipped behind a thick cover of leaves and was about to jump away when shouts of alarm, amusement and anger shot up from the grounds. Before he could assess what had happened, he noticed a shuriken flying straight at him. Out of reflex he caught it between his fingers just as it would have struck his face. Curious, he looked down.

It was easy to find the student who had thrown it. A bowl-haired boy with incredibly thick eyebrows was being scolded by the teacher and laughed at by the students.

"I'm sorry sensei, I really am," the boy was saying, his head bowed and shoulders sagged. In the next second, he straightened and a new determined composure took over. "But not to worry, sensei," he said in a ringing voice. He raised his hand and gave the teacher a thumbs-up and a big toothy smile. The sunlight glinted off his teeth. "I won't miss the next time!" That earned him a big smack on the head and the other students laughed even harder.

 _Strange looking kid,_ Kakashi thought to himself, fiddling with the shuriken in his hand. When he took a closer look at the weapon, he noticed it was marked by traces of frequent use. He wiped away some of the stains and idly wondered which class the bowl-haired boy had been in.

"Psst."

Kakashi whirled to find Obito hanging from a branch several feet above him like a monkey.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be –"

"To hell with that place."

"You have a concussion."

Obito rolled his eyes and waved such petty matters aside as he swung down and landed beside his teammate. "What's with that dirty shuriken?"

Kakashi nodded to the Academy class. "You know that kid in the green spandex?"

Obito peered out of the leaves and snorted in understanding. "That's Gai. He was in the class next door. Funny guy and all, just can't put two threads of chakra together for the life of him."

"Seems he can't throw straight for the life of him either," Kakashi muttered, turning the shuriken over in his palm.

Obito chuckled and then beckoned Kakashi, pointing to the top of the trees. "Come up. Midori's waiting."

Kakashi's shoulders sagged in an incredulous sigh. "You dragged her out too?"

" _She's_ the one who tried to shadow you in the first place! Just so you know, I talked her out of demanding a duel."

"How?"

"You'll see."

They jumped from one branch to the next, climbing higher up the ancient tree until they came upon a point where the wide trunk was cleanly sliced across the top as if by a powerful ninjutsu. Yet demonstrating the power of nature, its thick boughs still spread regally to all sides, offering a platform where they could look out across much of the training grounds and over the village, all the way to the Hokage Monuments.

Midori sat on the stump beside a small cardboard box and waved them over. Kakashi landed on the tree and saw it was wide enough to almost lay down on. Feeling the wind ruffle his hair, he looked around, impressed.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Obito said, sitting down next to Midori. "It's my secret reading spot."

"You mean your hiding spot," Midori said.

"You'd want somewhere to hide too if those stubborn Uchiha geezers were hunting you down." He shuddered.

Midori grinned. "Must be such a pain coming from a big clan."

Obito rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it."

"Why are they so after you when you haven't even awakened the Sharingan?"

"Because I can take down someone who has?" He shrugged. "I don't know."

"But you can't even steal a scroll from the library without getting caught."

"Stop gloating," Obito groaned. "I told you the Jounin caught up to me while I was saving a grandma from falling into a ditch."

"Sure."

"So," Kakashi interrupted, crossing his arms as he sat down, "you snuck out of the hospital just to argue on top of a tree?"

Midori and Obito shared a look and then turned back to their teammate. "Like you're one to talk, Kakashi," Obito snickered.

"You hate the hospital more than we do," Midori finished.

Kakashi sighed. He supposed it was this ability to constantly be at odds and then instantaneously fall into perfect solidarity that allowed them to function as a team. At the very least, it was what had gotten them through Minato's bell test. It was then that he had learned Obito was far more than just talk and Midori was fully capable of setting aside personal preferences to do the best for her teammates. It was also then that he had found himself thinking it may not be so bad working with his new team after all.

Speaking of teams.

"Rin gives her regards, by the way," he said. "I met her earlier."

Midori lit up at the mention of her cousin. "You did? I haven't seen her in ages. Where'd you see her?"

"She's right down there with everyone else from the Academy," Obito said, pointing to the targeting field below them.

"Really?"

"Wait!" Obito barely had time to grab her hand before she jumped down. "They're having class. We can't just interrupt them."

Midori huffed and sat back down. "Killjoy."

"And they call _me_ a prankster," Obito grumbled. "Remember what we came here for?"

"Right."

"What _did_ you come here for?" Kakashi muttered.

"To celebrate your promotion of course," Obito claimed with a grin. He opened the cardboard box, which revealed a row of colorful donuts.

Midori grumbled something under her breath.

Obito coughed loudly. "You promised remember? I buy you donuts, you stop pouting."

"I wasn't – okay, okay, I'm kidding!" Midori hurriedly packed away her sour attitude when Obito held the donuts hostage. She took a breath and turned to Kakashi with a smile as warm as Rin's, yet full of confidence and mettle. "Congratulations, Kakashi. Or should we call you captain now?"

Still not quite sure what to make of the whole situation, he shrugged. "Just 'Kakashi' will do."

"Then here's to Chuunin Kakashi," Obito said, raising a donut. Midori followed suit. They looked expectantly at him and he stared back.

"Really? Donuts?"

"Don't be a stuck up," Obito said. "We'll toast with beer or wine or whatever it is the adults drink as soon as we're old enough. Now come on."

With a sigh, Kakashi took the donut with the least visible sugar and tapped it lightly against theirs. Obito grinned, satisfied, and took a large bite.

Midori waved hers at her teammate. "Mark my words, Kakashi, we'll be right on your heels."

"I'll be right here waiting," Kakashi replied.

"That may not be for a while though," Obito said through a mouthful of grease and sugar. "Talk of the war's spreading. There's so much hostility at the borders, it's basically already begun."

"No problem," Midori replied. "We'll crush them in days and then hold another Chuunin exam."

Obito nearly choked. "You've never read about war have you?"

"Of course I have." She grew suddenly serious. "They're all the same. They need to be ended quickly before suffering spreads to start another one down the road."

"You and I are only Genin," Obito pointed out. "What can we do?"

"We do what we've always done," Kakashi said. "Complete one mission at a time and keep growing stronger."

Obito and Midori shared another look and Kakashi wondered what they were going to attack with next. He was surprised when Obito only grinned and said, "Point taken."

"Spoken like a true captain," Midori chirped.

"It's nothing like that," Kakashi muttered. When his teammates continued to stare at him, he frowned. "What?"

"Aren't you going to eat that?" Midori asked, nodding to the donut Kakashi still held. The icing was beginning melt.

"Don't be shy," Obito encouraged.

Kakashi sighed and fixed the two with a half-lidded stare. "So _this_ was your aim all along?"

"Of course not," Obito laughed sheepishly. "We were just – hey wait!"

Rolling to the side, Kakashi let himself fall from the tree. He kicked off a branch to gain momentum as he glided through the forest, his teammates hot on his heels. Pulling his mask down between jumps, he stuffed the too-sweet donut in his mouth before pulling the cloth over his nose again. Still chewing, he turned and raised his empty hands.

"Thanks for the treat," he called.

Obito and Midori gave aggravated cries and chased him all the harder, trying to get him to eat another one. Kakashi weaved between the trees, refusing to be caught. He held back from laughing out loud but let himself grin quietly under the mask.

For all the trouble they dragged him into, Kakashi couldn't help but like his team. From Minato's hopeless penchant of babying them, to Midori's grit and temper, and Obito's easy-going nonsense, the team had quickly become his home – and frankly, he couldn't have asked for a better one.

* * *

 **Author's notes on the story:**

Firstly, thank you for giving the chapter a try. This is a rewrite of the original "Nakama," which I wrote over 10 years ago.

The story is an alternative version of Kakashi's past and covers the events until just prior to his enlistment in ANBU. A sequel will follow featuring his ANBU years.

Who is Midori and why is she here:

When I first wrote this, nothing was known about Kakashi's team. My original character Midori turned out to be the polar opposite of Rin, and Obito was far too competent compared to canon. So Rin now makes her own appearance, Midori is a fun OC, Obito and Kakashi are childhood friends, and Kakashi, in the long run, has a lot more to fight for – and a lot more to lose. It's a complete canon divergence and AU.

Lastly:

I've been told that it takes a while to get used to Midori and the drastically different team dynamics - but that it's worth it. If you aren't gagging at the writing, my suggestion would be to stick around through Chapter 12 of Part II, which is when character development and plot really start to pick up pace. The beginning may feel slow, but believe me, 20 to 30 chapters down the road and you'll be glad for it.

* * *

A HUGE thank you to **MaethoMixup** for being such a wonderful beta! She's a writer herself so go check out her works too!

Also, I really love to hear from readers. So if you're enjoying it, please leave a review and I promise I'll reply. If you're a guest, look for my response at the bottom of the next updated chapter.

.LinSetsu.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N regarding my use of Japanese:** Being Japanese, I sometimes like to use Japanese terms. This includes honorifics and suffixes, phrases that lose their nuance in English (mainly "hai" in the stead of "yes sir"), and also for ninjutsu techniques, some of which I make up. Rest assured I know what I'm doing and I'm using the terms in the right contexts.

* * *

 **Chapter Two:**

"Out of all the habits you could have picked up on, _this_ is the one?" Minato grumbled.

He sat slumped against the red bridge that straddled a quiet river on the edge of town, his gaze fixed on his three unrepentant students. Kakashi leaned against the opposite rails with his hands in his pockets and eyes closed. Obito crouched beside him, fingers locked behind his head and attention on the clouds drifting overhead. Midori sat on Kakashi's other side, peering over her shoulder, looking for fish.

Minato heaved a sigh. "Kakashi."

The student in question popped open his eyes. "It's _my_ fault?"

"You set the precedent. Remember that Kage Bunshin you left to sneak out of the hospital three months ago?"

"But it's not my fault their clones failed halfway through an examination."

"That's not the point. All three of you, listen up. If you don't want to go half deaf listening to the nurse's endless lectures, you better stop these Kage Bunshin tricks _immediately_. Because I swear I'm going to drag you with me next time. Understood?"

"Hai," they mumbled.

Minato took a breath and stood up. "Alright. Now let's go."

At the administrative building, they received their next task, a C rank bodyguard mission.

"Your task is to protect and escort Gamashi Kengou to his home town on the outskirts of Rock Country," the Third said, glancing down at the scroll he held. He then looked up to the door behind the four and raised his voice. "Come in please, Gamashi-san."

The door slid open and a tall, mid-aged man walked in. He had short, cropped hair that accentuated the sharp angles of his face, and his narrowed eyes were shuttered and cold. He sized up each of the team before turning, dissatisfied, toward the Third.

"They won't do," Gamashi said, crossing his arms. "I expect better with the sum of money I'm paying you."

Midori's face darkened into a frown, but Minato placed a hand lightly on her shoulder and she stayed still.

"They may be young," Hiruzen explained, "but I assure you, they will not let you down. If by any chance something unexpected happens, Minato is a Jounin. There is nothing to worry about."

Gamashi glanced at Minato, who lowered his head in a silent greeting.

"You'd better be right," he said, making little effort to mask his displeasure. "We leave in half an hour. Be ready." With that he spun on his heels and left.

"Is it bad to hate your client right off the bat?" Midori muttered.

"Obviously," Obito replied, "but I hear you."

Kakashi was silent.

"As they say, never judge a person by your first impression," Minato said. "Always read beneath in the underneath. We'll meet again by the North Gate in thirty minutes."

The three nodded and took their leave. Minato began to follow when the Third called his name.

"Remember our conversation yesterday," the older shinobi said.

Minato nodded.

"Be of your guard," Hiruzen continued. "This mission appears straightforward but I suspect he's hiding something. I trust your team will be able to handle whatever it is, but if you have any doubts…"

Minato smiled. "They'll be all right."

.-.-.-.

The journey to Gamashi Kengou's town was a four day walk, the first of which was spent trying to get their client to speak more than a grunt at a time. It was nearly sundown before Minato convinced him they needed more information to better protect him. With narrowed eyes and a spiteful twist of his lips, he revealed he was an acting messenger for the lord of his town and that he held highly coveted information from the south.

"Political?" Obito asked.

"Confidential," Gamashi growled back.

"If I remember correctly," Minato said, "your town is located on the border of Earth Country but has a reputation for maintaining close relations with the small neighboring nations to the east. Are you aware of the sort of relationship your lord has with the Hidden Rock Village?"

At the mention of Hidden Rock, Gamashi's eyes flashed in anger and he snapped at Minato. "What does that cold-blooded Village have to do with this mission?"

Midori, who was walking ahead, glanced back at the sharp crack of his voice as it startled a flock of birds from their perches on the trees. Kakashi, who took up the rear, silently observed the sudden change in their client. The man's shoulders tensed and his hands curled into shaking fists. It wasn't quite fear, Kakashi noted, but the animosity their client held toward the Hidden Rock was palpable.

Unfazed by the outburst, Minato calmly met his eyes. "Hiring shinobi, no matter how low the mission rank, is a tell-tale sign that you are concerned about being targeted by them. Times are unstable in our world right now. It would serve you best to be honest."

Gamashi glowered darkly and walked on without another word. Obito was about to speak again, but Minato gave him a look. He nodded in understanding.

As they settled down to camp in a clearing that evening, the three students went to collect wood for fire.

"I still don't like him," Midori grumbled, her mouth set in a stubborn line.

"You say that like it's a real problem," Obito replied. "He's just a client. We don't need to like him."

"If I'm going to die protecting someone, I'd much rather die for someone I like."

Obito rolled his eyes. "Drama queen."

"Say that again," Midori growled.

"No one's going to die," Kakashi cut in before the fight could escalate.

"Says the captain," Obito said.

"I'm not the captain."

"But you're team leader."

"More like babysitter."

"Hey!" both Midori and Obito objected.

Kakashi's lips twitched to contain a laugh. He walked on, stooping to collect fallen twigs from the forest floor.

"But seriously," Midori pressed. "The man's hiding something. You saw the way he reacted to sensei's questions. And it's too quiet. If this were really a C rank mission, small-fry gangs or bandits would have attacked already. The man's suspicious."

"There's no denying that," Obito agreed, hefting a small log. "What do you think, Kakashi?"

"We don't know enough about him to make any judgements yet," he replied. "He's also deeply emotional."

Obito smothered a laugh.

"What?" Midori asked.

"That's exactly what he said about you when we were put in the same team."

"I'm so not!"

Kakashi gave Obito a sidelong look. "I thought you were a brainless idiot when we first met."

Obito tripped and nearly dropped all his sticks.

"Ha." Midori raised her chin in triumph. "At least I had brains. When exactly did you two meet anyway?"

"Sometime after we started at the Academy," Obito replied, still looking a little bitter.

"He stole an off-limits book and had the nerve to try and get me involved," Kakashi added.

"Yeah, well, like they say, two is company."

"And three's a crowd?" Midori muttered. "So sorry."

"Totally."

She snapped a kick at Obito's pile of wood and sent them flying. "Hey!"

"My point being," Kakashi said, talking right over their ensuing spat. "Like sensei said, first impressions aren't anything to go by. If he's hiding something, we'll find out soon enough."

They weren't listening. At all. He rolled his eyes and headed back to camp. They would have no right to say he never complimented them.

.-.-.-.

The team crossed the border of Fire Country the following day and headed north. As the sun began to slant west, they came across a dilapidated village surrounded by parched fields and failing crops. Gamashi's expression darkened upon seeing the bleak conditions and he opened his mouth voluntarily for the first time.

"The droughts have been bad this year. These areas were hit especially hard. We should cut across the fields and avoid the village. Who knows what sort of illnesses are spreading in there."

Minato regarded the cluster of houses in the distance and eventually shook his head. "Something doesn't feel quite right around here. Maybe we can help."

Gamashi stared at Minato, incomprehension thick in his eyes for a moment before they bulged in incredulity. "Your duties are to _me_ , not a godforsaken village in the middle of nowhere!"

"My duties are to the people in need of my help," Minato replied. "The only help you've requested from us is to protect you from civilian threats. I'm sure no one in that poor village is going to harm you. If you insist, though, we can meet you on the other side."

Without waiting for a reply, Minato continued down the road, trailed by his students. After a moment, they heard Gamashi curse angrily and follow. The village was as badly kept as the fields. Houses were run down, roofs were damaged and the streets were littered with garbage and broken farming equipment.

Not a person was in sight, but they soon felt a ripple running through the dwellings as the residents peered through cracks in the doors and whispered among themselves.

"Why won't anyone come out?" Obito asked.

"They're afraid," Kakashi said.

"Of what?" Midori looked uneasily around them. "They're making _me_ afraid."

"I told you it was a bad idea," Gamashi growled.

"I wasn't talking to you," she snapped.

"Insolent brat."

"Grouchy miser."

"That's enough," Minato intervened, his voice stern even as amusement brightened his eyes.

They stopped in front of the village's main well and Obito peered into it. A drop of a pebble revealed it was bone dry. Minato knelt and placed a hand on the ground while Kakashi and Midori observed the surrounding houses.

They all swiveled at the sound of a door creaking open and saw a small boy walking toward them on wobbly feet. He was at most three years old, dressed in tattered rags and covered in dust. The face beneath a tangle of greasy hair was pale and emaciated, making his watery eyes look unnaturally large.

His chapped lips trembled as he looked up at Gamashi. "Please…" His voice was barely audible. "Water… please… water…"

Gamashi stood stock still, frozen in place. The look of pain and pity that flashed across his face went unnoticed by all except Minato who regarded him thoughtfully.

When the boy stretched his arms toward Gamashi, the man's face twisted in disgust and he lashed out with his boot.

"Get away from me!"

Midori jumped in front of the child and Kakashi threw his weight against Gamashi's leg to stop it an inch from her face. In the same moment, Obito kicked him behind his other knee and the man toppled back with a cry.

"What –"

"Wrong move, mister," Obito drawled. He crossed his arms and glared down at their client.

Kakashi silently agreed as he watched Midori walk up to where Gamashi was still sprawled on his back. He half expected her to slam her foot onto his chest and strangle the life out of him. If there was one thing that truly set her off, it was seeing young children get hurt. While getting angry for the sake of someone else was a foreign concept to Kakashi, it was one both Obito and Midori shared, so he observed them, trying to understand.

"You heartless monster," Midori said. She didn't raise her voice, but it trembled in fury as she fixed him with narrowed eyes. "You're entitled to be as mean as you want, but _no one_ is entitled to hit a child. It's people like you who destroy lives!"

Gamashi visibly paled at her words and all enmity drained from his face. He looked between Midori and the little boy, and an emotion halfway between guilt and grief clouded his face. Then he scrambled to his feet and turned away, stalking to the far side of the well without a word.

Midori and Obito exchanged quizzical frowns, then looked to Kakashi. He shrugged.

A hesitant tug on his shirt pulled their attention back to the child. Kakashi stared down at him. He thought back to what had just happened and wondered if this skinny little thing was really worth risking an injury for.

"You should have stopped the attack itself instead of making yourself a human wall," he said quietly to Midori as she put down her bag and rummaged inside.

She tipped her head to the side as she regarded him and then smiled. "Why? I knew you and Obito would step in."

Kakashi blinked at the unexpected reply. The only reason he had acted was to prevent his teammate from getting hurt. It had nothing to do with the child.

"It's called conditioning," Obito muttered into his ear. "Read it in a book the other day."

Kakashi had no idea what that meant, but when he caught Minato's eyes, his teacher gave a nod, looking oddly pleased.

Midori pulled a canteen from her bag and gave it to the boy. "Here. Are you okay?"

The child took it with shaking hands and cradled it like the world's most valuable treasure.

"Thank you… thank you," he said, blinking rapidly at the ground. Then his next words caused the entire team to tense. "Run… Please, run away. Bad people are here."

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, something shot out from behind the houses in a direct trajectory to strike the boy's back. Minato struck down the kunai before it could touch him and sent a handful of weapons back in the direction of the attack. Several shadows leapt over the roofs and dispersed.

"Be on your guard," Minato warned.

Midori grabbed the boy and backed up to where Gamashi stood in wide-eyed fear. Kakashi and Obito spread out on either side of them, kunai in hand, senses stretching to search for the enemy.

They attacked as one, descending on the team from above. Kakashi leapt up to meet them mid-air, his chakra-propelled jump succeeding in forcing two away from their target. Obito ducked and rolled under the attacks of three others and rose behind them, throwing explosive tags on their wide open backs. Raising his hands in a basic seal, he detonated them before the shinobi had a chance to take two steps. With pained cries, they crumbled in a burst of fire and smoke at Minato's feet.

Once he was sure the shinobi weren't getting back up, Obito glanced in Kakashi's direction and saw he had already knocked out one of his opponents and was in the process of strangling another in a web of wires.

"Kakashi, don't kill them," Minato called, crouching down to examine the unconscious men.

"Five? Is that it?" Obito asked.

Minato shook his head and looked up. "Six."

A horde of weapons flew toward Gamashi. Before he could even draw breath to scream, he dove to the ground in panic. Midori stood over him, her hands flashing through a set of seals. The air convulsed around them and surged high in a blinding whirlwind.

Repelled by her ninjutsu, the weapons flew out in random directions. Snatching a kunai each and ducking between the others, Kakashi and Obito darted toward the direction the attack had come from. Kakashi leapt onto the roof of a house and dove down the other side, spotting the enemy crouched behind a corner. He tried to run, but Obito blocked his path and the two made short work of subduing him.

When they emerged, dragging the unconscious ninja between them, Minato shouted above the roar of the wind and Midori dropped the defense.

Her brows rose when she caught sight of their bounty, her attention on the black eye that was already starting to swell on his face.

"Do I even need to ask?"

Obito made a face. "I was aiming for his jaw, I swear!"

Midori just shook her head.

Minato knelt beside Gamashi to help him up. "Are you okay?"

"A… Are you goddamn crazy?!" he shouted. "Why didn't you do anything? I could have been killed!"

"But you weren't. What's more, you were unafraid to put your life on the line for that child," Minato said. His eyes were on the tiny figure huddled under Gamashi's arms. The man opened his mouth, the stubborn expression already returning to his face, but Minato was quicker to speak over him. "Gamashi-san, I think it's time you give up the pretense and be honest with us."

Midori stooped to pull the boy away from Gamashi, who she still eyed with suspicion. Kakashi left them to gather the fallen enemies and tie them together with Obito's help. All the while, Gamashi sat on the ground, heedless of the dust, and stared undecided at his hands.

"Why you lied on the application is less important than why you and your town are being targeted by ninjas," Minato said. "I don't mean to frighten you, but these assassins are barely qualified shinobi. My students, as you've seen, are capable of standing their own, but I won't risk going into further danger without knowing anything. If you continue your charade I'll be forced to cancel the mission and return us all to Konoha."

At long last, Gamashi sighed deeply and his shoulders slumped in defeat. He shook his head, saying, "I don't know why we're being targeted. That's the truth. I was doubtful of it myself until now, but…" He looked up for a moment, his eyes searching each of their faces. "Alright. I'll explain everything."

"I hope it'll explain why you tried to hit a child," Midori added coldly. Kakashi looked over to see his reaction.

To their surprise, Gamashi folded his knees under him in a formal posture and, placing his hands on the ground, lowered his head deeply in apology. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I beg your forgiveness. What I did was inexcusable, even if it was to test you."

"Test us?" Obito asked. "For what?"

"To see if you held the heart to help us."

"Isn't that why you hired us?" Kakashi asked.

Gamashi gave a wry smile. "Some things can't be bought with money."

"Damn right," Midori huffed.

"Let me start at the beginning," Gamashi said. "It all began a year ago when a provincial lord from Lightning Country visited our lord. Nobody knows what went on in the manor. All we know is that it caused Hiyashi-sama's attitude to change drastically ever since."

"How so?" Minato asked.

"He used to be open and friendly to everyone, always generous and content with keeping the peace of our people. Now, he's only interested in collecting information on other countries and gaining territory through trade." Gamashi's head sank a little further. "We're being stretched too thin. Taxes have been raised and it's becoming more and more difficult to eat three full meals a day."

"Hasn't anyone protested?" Obito asked.

Gamashi shook his head. "Hardly anyone is granted an audience. Hiyashi-sama is always locked up in his room with his adviser and only sends messengers to gather information from all corners of the Five Countries."

"What sort of information?" Minato asked.

"We're not to know on pain of death. We're only sent to retrieve the scrolls."

"What made you approach Konoha?"

"The Lady sent me a missive just before I left, instructing me to do so. She said she feared the lord was under some sort of spell." Gamashi looked down in embarrassment. "With the money I had, this was the most I could afford. Even then, I was unsure. You see, I had no way of knowing if Konoha was as cruel as the Hidden Rock."

"You seem to have a particular dislike for them."

"Nothing good comes from dealing with them," Gamashi replied with a dark expression. "Hiyashi-sama has never been a public supporter of the Village so they took what they could and abandoned us. To prove it, the Lady secretly asked a runner to inform the Hidden Rock Village of our situation a month ago – and he never made it back."

Minato was quiet for a moment as he thought over the information. "As I mentioned yesterday, the shinobi world is losing its balance. I don't know which Villages are involved to what extend but it seems clear that your town is in the crux of something. Whatever it is, it will be an opportunity for us to see where the Rocks stand."

Gamashi looked up with wide eyes. "Meaning, you'll help us?"

Minato smiled. "Of course. After we help this village first."

He got to his feet and looked around at the surrounding houses where the residents were staring at them in open agitation. He raised his voice so they could hear him. "It may not be much, but there's a layer of water some distance below the bottom of the well. We're going to bring it up. Kakashi." He turned to his student. "Lend me a hand will you?"

"Hai."

Minato knelt and showed him the path down to the aquifer with a thread of chakra. "Got it? I'll drill. You pump."

Kakashi nodded.

"You might want to step back," Obito told Gamashi as he tugged on the man's sleeve and retreated with Midori and the boy to the line of houses. They watched as Minato flicked through a set of hand seals and slammed his palm onto the ground. A deep rumble shook the earth and cries to terror rose from the houses.

Unaffected, Kakashi placed his own hands against the ground, extended his chakra deep into the earth and _pulled_.

The well erupted – first with clumps of rock and dirt, then with a fountain of water that surged into the air and showered the village center. The voices of fear abruptly changed to shock and joy. People poured from the houses with buckets in hands and rushed to fill them with water. They swarmed around Kakashi and Minato, crying and shouting in disbelief and gratitude.

Gamashi stared, awestruck at the sight. "I can't believe it."

"Isn't it cool?" Obito boasted with a grin.

Midori threw Gamashi a sidelong look. "And you thought we 'wouldn't do.' I saved your life, by the way. You owe us one."

Chagrin crept into Gamashi's cheeks and he lowered his head once again. "I'm so sorry for my despicable behavior. I'm ashamed to admit, Hiyashi-sama isn't the only one who's changed. We've all become wary of strangers, especially shinobi."

"Why shinobi?" Midori asked.

Gamashi straightened and his lips pulled tight in misery. "The Hidden Rock Village took away my daughter two years ago," he said. His voice was thin and hoarse as if the words themselves were hurting him. "They tricked her into believing the shinobi life was better than staying in a small border town. We haven't heard a word from her since. It was all my fault, I was a poor father. You were right when you said people like me destroy children's lives."

Midori blinked in surprise, thrown by his sudden honesty. "Wait, I didn't mean it that way. I mean, I still don't think it's alright that you tried to kick a child, even if you had your reasons, but we were there to stop you and –"

"What she's trying to say," Obito cut in, "is that she forgives you."

"Obito!"

Gamashi bent low at the waist again. "I'm sorry. Thank you. I'm afraid to think what I would have become if you hadn't stopped me."

"Alright already, I get it," Midori huffed.

"It seems we're finally all getting along," Minato remarked as he returned with Kakashi by his side. They were both dripping water but looked like they couldn't care less. "As the saying goes, adversity strengthens foundations. Or in our cases –" He looked down at Kakashi with a grin.

"After heavy rains, the earth hardens?" Kakashi said. He tugged at his wet clothes. "Is that meant to be a joke, sensei?"

"I like it!" Gamashi laughed and the way the genuine amusement brightened his face surprised them all. Midori smiled and felt her heart finally lighten as the villagers came to gather around them to extend their thanks.

Gamashi was quickly drawn into a conversation about the fields and crops and the Konoha shinobi took the time to discuss the enemies they had taken captive.

"They didn't reveal enough for me to guess their origins," Minato said, regarding the bound men who were slowly coming to their senses. "But if I had to guess, I'd say they're rogue shinobi out for hire."

"We could make sure," Kakashi said. He flicked out a kunai.

"No. I don't want to waste time on interrogations." He crouched in front the men and tapped each of their shoulders. "Believe my words or choose not to, it's up to you. You've been marked, and if you come within a mile of us again, you'll be dead before you know it. I'm letting you go for one purpose: tell your employer to stop playing games and come out before I find and dispose of him myself. Now, go."

He cut loose the wires holding them and the warning in his eyes told them that both his patience and tolerance had a limit. The irrational fear spurred them into action and they were gone within seconds.

Kakashi watched them disappear and then tilted his head up to his teacher. "Are you sure it was okay to let them go? It didn't look like they would have resisted long before revealing who their employer was."

"The simplest answer may not always be the only one," Minato replied. "We don't know where the Rocks stand and I suspect there's a high chance the Clouds are involved. Keep an open mind and be prepared for anything. This mission is far from over."

* * *

 **MaethoMixup** is beyond awesome as a beta, writer and person. All improvements are the product of her genius!

.LinSetsu.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Two days and four ambushes later, the three young members of Team Minato were busy taking down their latest assailants. A distraction from Obito, an Earth technique from Kakashi, and several gusts of wind from Midori saw them effectively trapped beneath a pile of rubble.

"So here's a question for the ages," Midori said, tossing a rock in one hand and surveying the sight before them. Two of the three rogue ninja were out cold while one was still struggling to reach his oversized sword. She hurled the rock and struck him cleanly on the temple. His head hit the ground with a thud. "Why does everyone keep underestimating kids just because we're small?"

"I mean, I'm not complaining," Obito replied. "Makes work easier for us." He toed the shinobi's weapon and eyed its jagged edges with distaste. "These weapons are wicked. They nearly took my head off."

"At least they had the decency to come out and fight," Midori said. "Not like those guys last night who summoned Kuchiyose cockroaches of all things."

"I thought it was a good tactic," Kakashi said. Or it would have been, if Midori wasn't the type girl to become even more aggressive in the face of something she despised.

"Never in a thousand years," she retorted with vehemence. Kakashi shrugged. With that, the three turned back to where Minato stood waiting with Gamashi along the steep wall of the ravine. Trees had thinned as they travelled north, giving way to barren lands and winding canyons.

Their teacher smiled. "Good work."

"Piece of cake," Midori replied, flinging her fingers into a victorious V sign.

Gamashi shook his head in wonder. "Are you really six years old?"

"Last I counted," Obito chuckled.

"Age has nothing to do with strength in our world," Kakashi added.

Gamashi fell silent, his eyes distant.

His teammates had told Kakashi about their client's daughter, which explained his occasional lapses into silence over the past two days. Still, this wasn't the time or place to be indulging in reveries. He looked around them at the narrow path they were on. It made them easy targets for further ambushes.

Luckily, their teacher was of a similar mindset and said, "Let's keep moving." They picked up their things and continued on their way.

The ravine eventually led them out to a wide river flanked by uneven outcroppings. Back in the open, the team breathed a little easier and the discussion returned to the shinobi they had encountered so far.

"I just wish whoever's behind these attacks would stop testing us," Midori grumbled.

Obito grimaced. "That's exactly the sort of mentality that got us blown up in the Chuunin exam."

"Well, Kakashi wasn't coming back."

"I told you to wait," Kakashi muttered.

"See?"

"Shut it goggle-boy."

"Just saying."

Midori was about to shoot something back at him – preferably something that would do him physical harm – when the river exploded beside them.

Minato spun and threw a handful of shuriken to meet the barrage of weapons that burst from the water. Metal clanged against each other and clattered noisily onto to the bank.

Obito groaned. "See, this is why you need to be more careful of what you wish for." Despite his complaint, he was quick to step in front of Gamashi and align his shoulder with Kakashi's.

"I heard that," Midori hissed.

Minato kept his eyes trained on the middle of the river where four figures stood: a tall man and three children in their early teens. The marking on their forehead protectors belonged to the Hidden Mist Village.

Obito whistled quietly under his breath. "The Mists? This just keeps getting crazier doesn't it?"

Minato raised his voice above the rush of the rapid water. "What a surprise. I thought you'd never show up."

"Consider it an honor," the Mist Jounin said. "I'll admit, you're better than the coward Leafs we slaughtered on our way here."

Minato tensed and gave his students a warning look as he felt their angers flare. "What are you after?"

"Your client there has a scroll we may be interested in. Then again, most are false leads so he may end up as another meaningless victim." He grinned, seemingly undisturbed by the notion.

"Leads for what?"

The Mist laughed. "You'd best not ask. It might spare you your life."

Minato frowned in thought. What information was the Mist looking for? The fact that they had sent a Genin team indicated it wasn't a top priority, but it was crucial enough that they had chased them so far north. For years the Mists had kept to themselves, at odds with all the Countries and siding with none. What common pursuit of information did they share with an Earth Country lord?

"My name is Jyakou," the Mist continued with a mocking bow. "These are my students, Genka, Miyaka, and Kuraba."

The girl snickered. "Look at them. They're just kids."

"Pot calling the kettle black?" Midori threw back.

Minato raised a hand for quiet. Whatever their intent, the appearance of Hidden Mist shinobi made the situation more complicated. Anything could tip the crumbling world balance into an all-out war these days. He wondered what had become of the Sand's retribution the Hokage had mentioned. Was this in any way related?

"Is the scroll all you're after?" he asked.

Jyakou smirked. "If it was, would you hand it over like a good boy?"

"Unfortunately, that's not an option." He wasn't going to get any information out of them like this. He reached back to his kunai holster. "Shall we?"

"Not so fast, Leaf," Jyakou laughed. "This is a Genin mission. Let the little soldiers fight."

Minato narrowed his eyes. "What if I refuse?"

"I'll kill your precious client the first chance I see."

Minato hesitated. He was confident he could deal with all four of them, but one slip and he would put both his students and Gamashi at risk. He didn't let appearances fool him. He knew instinctively that even these Genin were stronger than the rogues that had attacked them these past few days. While he was genuinely proud of how much his students had accomplished so far, he couldn't help but worry. If they won, it would be by a margin. If they didn't…

"Sensei," Midori said, putting a stop to his thoughts. He glanced at her. "You can trust us. We won't lose."

"There's also no guarantee the Jounin isn't lying," Kakashi added. "He could take the opportunity to attack while we're preoccupied."

"You're our last line of defense sensei," Obito joked.

Minato sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Alright, but be careful. Mist shinobi have little attachment to ranks. They may still be Genin, but expect them to have Chuunin level skills."

Midori grinned. "Well, so do we."

Jyakou retreated to the far side of the river and Minato's team stepped forward to the edge of the bank. As soon as they touched the water, all six young shinobi sprang into motion and disappeared.

"Gamashi-san." Minato spoke as he watched the two girls clash with Genka against Obito and Kuraba against Kakashi. His eyes slid momentarily to the other Jounin, who was following the fights with a confident grin. While Minato shared the confidence, he found none of it amusing. "Are you sure you don't know anything about the information you're holding?"

Gamashi shook his head. "If I did, I would have told you."

Minato nodded. "I have a favor to ask when this is over."

.-.-.-.

After an initial exchange of blows Kakashi knew he couldn't end this fight quickly. Kuraba was fast, well trained, and experienced in combat. He could only hope Obito and Midori would be able to hold their own.

He risked a glance in their direction and almost regretted it when the river erupted beneath him. He leapt up and Kuraba followed him into the air, closing the distance between them faster than he had anticipated.

Kakashi brought his hands together and drew chakra into his lungs. At the last second, he blasted a stream of fire at the Mist. There was barely enough time for Kakashi to be pleased that he had finally perfected the Uchiha Clan's signature technique before Kuraba countered with a surge of water. As the two elements collided and spread a thick cloud of vapor across the river, Kakashi thought he heard Obito yell at him.

Landing on the sloshing waves, Kakashi found he couldn't see anything through the fog, but he could smell his opponent's scent from upriver. He created a Kage Bunshin, which disappeared into the haze, then pulled out two kunai and wrapped several wires around them. He slipped the other ends under his mask and between his teeth, then threw the weapons in Kuraba's general direction.

His Kage Bunshin hid in the shadows of a boulder a safe distance behind Kuraba, and through its second set of eyes, Kakashi could just barely make out the Mist's outline. As the other ducked under the kunai, Kakashi lunged forward and threw two shuriken to deflect the wired weapons so they snaked back around Kuraba's body and immediately went up in flame.

Not a second later, the Mist turned into a log of wood and a shuriken sliced across Kakashi's throat. His clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Back where he had set up the attack, Kakashi tensed and stretched out his senses once again. The fog was clearing, but it still obscured his vision. Picking up a sharp whistle, he leapt back from a shower of shuriken that rained down on him wave after wave. They multiplied, never wavering, no matter how many he deflected or which direction he evaded.

The attack itself was a nuisance, but it didn't trouble him as much as the vague, foul odor that occasionally hit his nose. He narrowed his eyes. Poison?

Kakashi flipped backwards from another barrage and withdrew a kunai in one hand while his other gathered chakra. He crouched, preparing to leap over the next wave, when he suddenly felt Midori closing in behind him.

"Hey there," Midori huffed between breaths. She sent a gust of wind at Miyaka and her back bumped against his.

Alarmed, Kakashi had no time to reply. He dropped the kunai and spun, hooking one arm around Midori and using his weight to throw her down into the river. He followed just as the weapons flew over them. One cut a slice into his arm, but he barely registered it before the water churned unnaturally around them.

Trapped in Kuraba's technique, they were hurled through the current. Kakashi knew the force would crush their bones if they didn't get out – but Midori was already going through a set of seals. _Ninpo Kaze Kamaitachi_. Kakashi had a second to be impressed before the razor winds swept through the water, cutting them away from Kuraba's chakra flow. The momentum still threw them against an outcropping above the riverbank where they fell, coughing and wheezing.

Kakashi pushed himself upright and immediately felt the effects of the poison spreading from his wound. His vision tilted dangerously and his limbs felt weak and heavy. Distantly, he was aware of Obito falling down toward them, skidding to a stop on his hands and knees. Genka, Miyaka and Kuraba dropped to the edge of the water.

"You're good, I'll give you that," Genka said. "But not nearly good enough."

"You sure about that?" Obito asked, nodding to Kuraba. Angry scorch marks ran along his arms and shirt.

"You can't take credit for Kakashi's work," Midori grumbled. Obito rolled his eyes.

Miyaka glanced at her teammate and shrugged. "Kuraba thrives on pain and danger. We all do."

"That's sick," Midori muttered.

"I've read about that," Obito said, almost to himself. "It's called 'masochism'."

Midori gave him a blank look.

"Act as tough as you want," Genka said. "You aren't winning 'cause you aren't strong enough."

"Says who?"

"You've never killed, I can tell," Kuraba said, his eyes trained on Kakashi. "That's the only way to grow strong."

Kakashi lifted his face, but the volume of their voices rose and fell nauseatingly in his ears, distorting their words and making him want to squeeze his eyes shut against the pain.

"So you're saying we can't beat you because we've never killed anyone?" Obito asked. He snorted and got to his feet, brushing the dirt from his trousers and fixing his goggles. "You wanna to bet?"

"You'll be sorry for it," Genka spat.

"This makes me glad I was born in Konoha," Midori said. "If only to avoid dealing with the likes of you. Sensei says we grow stronger when we find someone we want to protect. I'm going to believe him over you any day of the week."

Miyaka sneered. "The Leafs are weak. It's universal knowledge."

"Then it's time you revised your opinion on us," Obito shot back.

Kakashi slowly straightened. His heart was racing uncomfortably and he wasn't getting enough air into his lungs no matter how many deep breaths he took. It felt as if a knife was stabbing him through the head, making it hard to focus his eyes and maintain his balance. He locked his knees to keep them from buckling under his weight and prayed his teammates were too preoccupied to notice his sorry state. He knew Kuraba was aware of his condition from the way the other boy narrowed his eyes in a satisfied smile.

As if from a distance he heard one of the Mists snarl. Obito responded by throwing down a smoke bomb between them. Kakashi ignored his failing body and leapt forward into the fight.

They clashed as one, surging across the river in a tangle of limbs and weapons. Kakashi flipped over Midori and mumbled a quick word in her ear, then swung a dropkick onto Genka. His feet sank into the waves when he was forced to block a knee from Kuraba, but he forced his chakra to his legs and sprang back just as Midori dug a whirlwind into the water, soaking everyone.

"Obito!" Kakashi called. His friend looked at the motion of his hands and jumped high into the air, Midori following suit.

 _Raiton Inabikariryuu_.

Streaks of electricity bolted through the water toward the Mists. They tried to leap over it, but Obito had already finished his seals and scattered fireballs on top of them to prevent their escape. Blocked from above, they rushed toward a group of boulders, only to run into a string of explosive tags carried by Midori's wind. The talismans detonated at the same moment Kakashi's lightning ensnared the Mists, raising screams amid the smoke and a towering splash.

Before the waves even had a chance to settle, the water reared up into a twisting pillar and cracked open the boulders where Obito and Midori stood. They leapt away in opposite directions and Obito landed beside Kakashi.

"Any ideas?" Obito asked, his eyes fixed on the raging waterspout bearing down on them.

Kakashi gritted his teeth, scrambling for the last vestiges on focus. "Goukakyuu," he bit out.

"Just what I was thinking."

Without another word they formed identical seals and their blasts of fire collided with the water attack. The two elements fought for dominance, equal in strength, until Midori skidded in front of her teammates and created a gust of wind that spiraled around their fires and tangled itself in the flames. Its size and destructive strength doubled instantly and swallowed both Kuraba and his technique with ease. When the fire died down, they saw the Mist Genin topple into the water, unconscious.

Kakashi fell forward and braced himself on his knees, gasping for breath and stifling the pained groans that threatened to slip past his lips.

"Kakashi?"

He could barely make out Obito's voice. He tried to say it was nothing, but his tongue wouldn't move and before he knew it, Midori was shouting in alarm. Kakashi forced himself to look up – into the face of five Suiton tigers descending on them with bared fangs.

How? Kuraba was down. His wide eyes searched the opposite bank and landed on Jyakou, his hands raised in a seal and fury marking his face.

Without thought, Kakashi lurched forward, willing chakra to his hands, not knowing what he was doing or whether he was really moving at all. The world flipped over, and through the dizzying vortex where lines blurred and distance undulated, he saw a flash of yellow streak in front of them, led by a bright blue ball of energy that decimated the tigers as if they were nothing.

It was the last Kakashi saw before the water dragged him and his consciousness down into its dark depths.

* * *

Translations:  
 _Kaze Kamaitachi_ – wind sickles  
 _Inabikariryuu_ – lightning dragons

Huge thank you to **MaethoMixup** for helping me overhaul this chapter!

.LinSetsu.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Hurry!" Minato shouted, trying desperately to pick up the lagging pace of the group. They ran headlong over the rough terrain, weaving between towers of eroded rocks and boulders. The river had swerved north, but they headed due west, counting on Gamashi's words that the town was less than an hour away at a caravan's pace.

In his arms, Kakashi's breaths were growing more erratic by the minute and Minato could feel the burning fever through both their clothes. His efforts to extract, or at least confine, the poison with chakra had been in vain.

Half his mind was also preoccupied with what had become of the Mists. By the time he had destroyed Jyakou's attack, the other Jounin had picked up his students and disappeared.

Impatiently, he looked back over his shoulder. Obito and Midori were half dragging, half carrying Gamashi as he stumbled on, long out of breath. Minato stopped and doubled back. He wanted nothing more than to sprint ahead, but without Gamashi there was no guarantee the town would help them.

"Obito, take Kakashi," he said, handing him the unconscious boy. "Gamashi-san, let me carry you. How much longer –"

Before he could finish, he spun around and clashed a kunai against Jyakou's downward katana slash. Even knowing he would eventually attack, Minato couldn't help the surge impatience that rose in him.

The Mist ninja no longer showed any sign of mockery or brass. The fact that he had been able to trail them without Minato noticing until the last second spoke of how serious he was.

"What is it you're really after?" Minato asked as their weapons grated together.

"I told you," Jyakou hissed. "The scroll. This has to be the one. You tried to deceive us by having kids protect it."

"Do you even know what it contains?"

"Don't take me for an idiot." Jyakou leapt back, his hands flying through a set of seals.

Without turning around, Minato gave Obito a push and left a Hiraishin mark on his shoulder as a precaution.

"Go, run!" he shouted. "Get Kakashi to the doctor!"

Wasting no time, Midori led Gamashi at a full sprint and Obito took up the rear with Kakashi slung over his shoulder. They hadn't gone ten steps when bullets of water tore out of the ground. The earth cracked and crumbled, sucked dry by the technique, but Minato harnessed the debris in an instant and erected a mud wall to fend off the attack.

As if anticipating just that, Jyakou vaulted over both the shield and Minato, bearing down on Gamashi in two bounds. Obito skidded to a stop and laid Kakashi down, then leapt forward to meet the enemy, catching Minato's eyes for a second over the enemy's shoulder.

Jyakou snarled and swung down his sword. Obito threw his weight to the side and pivoted, as if to strike out with a reverse roundhouse. Minato used that instant to teleport to Obito's side and closed the distance between himself and Jyakou with a single step. The Mist's eyes widened, but he was moving too fast, his momentum too uncontrolled to avoid the kunai that plunged into his chest at a deadly angle.

Minato stepped aside to let the Mist stagger forward and collapse. Gasping for breath and coughing blood, he still tried to move forward, his face twisted in fury.

"I won't let the Leafs have it," he gurgled, stretching his hand toward Gamashi. "The Sanbi… is ours. No one… else…"

Minato froze, and then immediately dropped down beside Jyakou and turned him over.

"What did you say?" he demanded. "The Sanbi? You're saying the scroll contains information on the Tailed Beasts?"

Jyakou lips curled into a bloody grin even as the light in his eyes dimmed and life left him for good. Minato clenched his teeth and bit back a curse.

"Sensei?" Obito asked, his eyes flickering between his teacher and Kakashi's deteriorating condition.

Minato stood up, not even bothering to close the Mist's open eyes. He could think about this later.

"Let's go," he said.

.-.-.-.

" _Come here Kakashi."_

 _Kakashi stepped out from behind the wooden room partition, not surprised his father had known he was there even with his presence obscured. Sakumo sat by the open windows looking out at the moonlit inner garden. He turned to watch his son pad over the tatami floors and fold his short legs under him._

" _How's school?" Sakumo asked after a pause._

" _I'm going to take the graduation exam next month."_

" _You're still four."_

" _I'm five, Father." His birthday had been a week ago but Sakumo had spent the whole day locked in his room. Ever since he had returned from a mission nearly a month ago his father had barely spoken a handful of words to him or anyone for that matter._

" _Forgive me, I was…preoccupied." Sakumo sighed and then gave a small smile, half shadowed in the darkness. He opened his arms. "Come here."_

 _Kakashi frowned. "I'm too old for that," he grumbled, nevertheless rising and walking to his father. Sakumo's arms wrapped tight around him with surprising strength. Kakashi turned his head, confused and unsettled, but could only see his father's hair, silver in the moonlight._

" _They say you're a genius, my son." Sakumo's words were only a whisper. "I couldn't agree more. Maybe… Maybe you'll be able to accomplish what I couldn't, because I was too weak. Grow strong, Kakashi, strong enough so you can complete your missions and not lose your comrades. Do you hear?" He pulled back and cupped his large, calloused hands around Kakashi's face. His eyes were haunted. "Grow strong."_

 _Kakashi pushed down the unease in his stomach. He would do anything to make his father proud. "Hai," he said firmly. "I will."_

 _Sakumo let go of him and closed his eyes, turning back to the window. "Go to sleep now. It's past midnight."_

" _Goodnight, Father."_

 _Kakashi woke up several hours later, not knowing why. It was still dark outside. He got up and walked down the hall. The door was open to Sakumo's room. He looked inside and found his father laying in a pool of his own blood._

 _A cold breeze blew in from the gaping window, and he would remember the smell it brought to his nose long after he had forgotten what his father had even looked like. The wooden scent of the tatami floor, a bitter fragrance of tea gone cold, the mustiness of autumn leaves, the reek of ammonia, all laced with the metallic stench of blood – the smell of desperation, despair and mercy._

.-.-.-.

Kakashi stirred and slowly opened his eyes, the remnants of the dream still lingering like broken cobwebs in his mind. He lifted a heavy hand to his face and clenched his teeth, shoving the memories away. He didn't need the dead to remind him of his duties.

Shifting his hand, he found himself looking up at an unfamiliar, wooden ceiling. He could hear the muffled sounds of a meal, but the thought of food made him queasy. Pushing himself upright, he looked around. It was dark outside the windows. The room, faintly lit by a paper lantern beside the futon bed, was small and sparsely accented with two wooden drawers.

Looking down at himself, he found himself in an oversized pajama with the sleeves and trousers rolled up. His forehead protector, weapon pouches and clothes lay stacked beside him.

His remembered now. The fight with the Mist ninjas and Kuraba's barrage of shuriken replicas that had camouflaged the poisoned ones. He reached over to his left arm where he had been cut and found the wound tender and swollen but neatly bandaged.

Kakashi drew his legs out from under the blanket and stood up, feeling sluggish but otherwise unaffected by any lasting effects of the poison. Walking over to the door where the sounds were coming from, he pulled it open and squinted at the sudden onslaught of bright light.

"Well, look who's finally awake," Obito said.

Kakashi blinked as his eyes slowly adjusted. The room was small but artfully decorated in varying shades of granite grey. His team sat with Gamashi at a wooden table laden with plates and bread baskets. The air was thick with the smell of stew, laced with a refreshing whiff of citrus orange coming from the tray of teacups a round-faced woman was setting on the table.

Minato smiled. "How are you feeling?"

Before Kakashi could reply, Midori jumped out of her seat and slammed into him in a full body tackle. He almost tripped backward, finding himself in a choke hold. But there was no malice – only ripples of frustration and, strangely, relief radiating from his teammate.

"You idiot!" she screamed, right into his ear. He flinched. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Do what?" he grumbled.

"Sacrifice yourself! You got hit with the poison when you pushed me into the water, didn't you?" Kakashi made no reply. Midori let go and glared at him for a moment. Then the anger fell away and she hugged him. "Thank you."

The words surprised him, but it was the embrace that made him stiffen and pull away, the dream still fresh in his mind.

Midori peered into his face, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Kakashi?"

"It's nothing," he mumbled, heading to the table.

"You sure you feeling okay?" Gamashi asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." He turned to Obito. "How long has it been?"

"A day and a half."

Kakashi felt chagrined.

"We were lucky it was a common poison," Minato said, "and that we were so close to town. Several more hours and you would have died."

"I nearly had a heart attack running," Gamashi laughed.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said.

The man snorted. "Sorry? You saved my life! By the way, meet my wife, Nanami."

"Nice to meet you, Kakashi." She was a woman of short stature, her brown hair loosely braided over one shoulder. A small dimple marked her cheek when she smiled. "You must be hungry. Let me get you something."

"Thank you, I'm fine."

"Nonsense. You have to eat to get better."

"Kakashi won't eat in front of other people," Midori said, indicating the mask. "My bet is he has crooked teeth."

"Fat lips is my guess," Obito added.

Minato tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I'd say…"

"Sensei," Kakashi growled. The blonde laughed.

While Nanami went to make another cup of tea, the team filled Kakashi in on their encounter with Jyakou and what Minato had heard him say.

"Sanbi?" Kakashi asked. "The Three Tails?"

Minato nodded. "Gamashi-san allowed me to see the scroll last night. It was sealed with a basic fuuinjutsu and contained a report on a large sea monster with three tails sighted in the southern sea."

"But it was a civilian report wasn't it?" Obito asked. "Couldn't it just be a fisherman's tale?"

"Maybe. But the descriptions were detailed. Large, turtle-shaped, crab shells, spikes and three shrimp-like tails."

"What did you do with the scroll?" Kakashi asked.

"I replicated the seal and gave it back," Minato said.

"It's with Hiyashi-sama now," Gamashi said. "I had to hand it in or I would be have been killed. But we have a plan. I requested an emergency audience with Hiyashi-sama tomorrow and it's been granted."

"No civilian in their right mind should want anything to do with the tailed beasts," Minato said. "There's also the matter of the seal. It makes me certain there's a shinobi behind all this."

"From which Village?" Kakashi asked. "Jyakou was after the scroll so it can't be the Mists."

Minato shook his head. "I don't know yet, but we'll find out."

Obito and Midori also shared what they had found out about the town and its inhabitants. While the team had drawn outright hostile looks when they had first arrived, when Obito and Midori had scouted the town without their forehead protectors, the people had left them alone for the most part.

" _Town_ is an under-exaggeration," Obito said. "It's nearly as big as Konoha."

"Guess who got lost at every corner?" Midori snickered as she drew a basic map of the area.

"At least I didn't get distracted by every sweets shop. I thought girls liked to diet."

Without a word of warning Midori flicked the pencil with her thumb and propelled it straight up into Obito's face. With a strangled shout he threw back his head to avoid a hit up the nose and promptly fell on the floor. Midori wasted no time pouncing on him.

Minato watched the scuffle in amusement for a moment before the seriousness returned to his expression.

"That's enough now, listen up," he said.

Obito froze in the act of grinding his palm into Midori's cheek while she tried to wrench the goggles from his face. At Minato's expectant look, she let go abruptly and Obito went down with a yelp as the goggles smacked him hard. Grumbling, he climbed back onto his seat and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Putting aside the issue of the Sanbi," Minato went on, "I received a message from Hokage-sama today. Two separate Chuunin teams were attacked since we left: one at the border of Cloud Country and another at a sea port close to the Mist."

"Jaykou?" Kakashi asked.

"I assume so." Minato said. "Sandaime's attempts at diplomatic negotiations have been completely ignored."

He turned his eyes to Gamashi and Nanami and regarded them sympathetically. "The Hidden Rock Village also broke the truce. They attacked a military base in northern Wind Country belonging to the Sands last night."

"What does that mean?" Gamashi asked.

"It makes us enemies," Minato replied. "This is the last mission where we'll be able to help the people of your country."

The couple's faces grew grim with grief and bitterness. No one needed to state the obvious. Dark times lay ahead for every country, civilians and shinobi alike.

"But first things first," Minato said in a lighter tone. "We still have a mission to accomplish and it won't do if we all collapse with exhaustion tomorrow. Let's call it a night."

One by one they left the kitchen and returned to the guestroom where Obito and Midori lay out three more futons.

"You know, one day you're going to be demanding your own room," Obito said to Midori. "Just like my sister."

"Why? We sleep together outside all the time."

Obito stared. Then he whispered to Kakashi, "Is she really a girl?"

He got a solid blow from a pillow filled with heavy buckwheat hulls for that, knocking him flat on his face. "Goodnight _team_ ," he mumbled without bothering to get up.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi woke up in the middle of the night and sat up. Either because he had had enough sleep, or for other reasons, he couldn't get himself to fall asleep again. As silently as possible, he changed into his clothes. He reached out for the forehead protector and weapons pouches, but then stopped and left them on the floor.

He glanced at the other three and made sure they were undisturbed before he stepped silently to the windows. Sliding one open, he took a light jump onto the thin frame and looked outside. It was an alleyway several feet wide, leading out to streets on both ends. Kakashi swung himself outside, using chakra to hold onto the wall, and slid a thin piece of paper between the window and frame as he drew it closed.

Minato opened his eyes as Kakashi's head disappeared behind the window and considered following him. The thought quickly faded as Obito got up and silently slipped out the door.

Kakashi walked to one end of the alley, made sure there was no one around, then flitted through the shadows, matching streets and buildings to the drawings Midori had shown him. He moved carefully through the town, conscious of the half-moon shining brightly in the cloudless sky. When he reached the last few buildings on the eastern outskirt, he found a small forest and a river that curved south.

He kept off the ground, jumping from boulder to boulder to leave no marks on the damp floor. At the riverbank, he dropped down onto one of the sloping slabs that flanked it.

As soon as his bare feet touched the stone, Kakashi tensed and whipped his head back in time to glimpse a small pebble flying past him into the river. He remained tense, ready to jump, but was surprised when he saw who had thrown it.

"Obito." His friend jumped down from the trees and landed beside him. The Uchiha grinned and tossed him something. Kakashi caught it out of reflex.

"The least you could do is remember your shoes," Obito teased, sitting down on the rock.

Kakashi glanced at the sandals and then at his dusty feet. "Thanks."

"Midori was pretty upset when she figured out what happened. She felt responsible."

Kakashi thought back to her strange reaction earlier that evening and frowned. "Why? I only did what duty demanded. We're meant to protect the team."

Obito looked sidelong at him with an odd quirk of his lips that bordered on amusement and exasperation.

"It's not that you're _wrong_ ," he said slowly, "but I'm pretty sure you're missing a point there."

"Like what?"

"Like… feelings."

Kakashi raised a silent brow.

Obito gestured vaguely with his hands as he groped for words. "Like a sense of friendship and… and love, and –"

"Love?" Incredulity joined confusion in Kakashi's expression.

"What I mean is," Obito huffed, "we don't protect each other out of duty. We do it because we care about each other. Because we _want_ to, not because we _have_ to. Get what I'm saying?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment, trying to overlap his friend's words with his father's. "The results are the same."

Obito gave a long-suffering sigh. "Only you, Kakashi. Look, the results may be the same, but _we_ would feel better if you weren't just doing it out of a sense of duty."

"It makes a difference?"

"Of course it does."

The thought had never occurred to Kakashi. Then again, Sakumo had put his life on the line for something he had wanted to do – a life he had lost in the end, perhaps for that very reason. Kakashi knew the Shinobi Rules inside and out, and nowhere did it say to put a comrade's wellbeing above the mission. Yet that was what his father had told him to do, and dead or alive, Sakumo's words were the rules to Kakashi.

Still, there was something oddly alluring to what his friend said. It was straightforward and honest, much like Obito himself. His words didn't close in on Kakashi – not like the suffocating walls that seemed to surround him whenever he thought back to that moment in Sakumo's room.

"You need to come live with us," Obito said, pulling Kakashi back from his thoughts. "My family has enough emotions flying around to make you into an expert on the subject."

"I'll just take your word for it."

Obito snorted. "Fine, but you know my family doesn't think badly of your dad, right? And it's not as if you have a lot of things to move."

Kakashi thought back to the one and only time he had moved in his life. It was mostly memories of cleaning out the old house in the days following Sakumo's funeral. That, and a sense of perplexity when Obito had shown up, a boy he had only met once before outside the Academy grounds.

(Flashback)

Still dressed in black, Kakashi rolled open the door of the Hatake household. With a large cardboard box in his arms he walked across the small courtyard to the wooden entrance gates. They were open and leaning against one side was Obito.

"Yo, Kakashi."

Kakashi frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm your friend, remember?"

"I hardly know you."

Obito ignored his clipped tone and peered into the box. "What's all that?"

"Garbage."

"Garbage? These are nice clothes. Books too. And hang on, there's a photo album…"

Kakashi threw the entire box into a large dumpster that seemed to be standing outside the gate for that very reason. Obito frowned and followed Kakashi back into the entrance hall. He found piles of similar boxes there, stuffed haphazardly with every household item imaginable: decorative hangings, futon blankets, lamps, dishes, cooking pots, even a vacuum cleaner.

Obito looked at Kakashi who was picking up the next closest box. "You haven't been sleeping have you?" Dark bags marked the pale skin under his bloodshot eyes. News of the White Fang's suicide had quickly spread and while the villagers whispered among one another, Kakashi must have been systematically tearing the house down hour after hour.

"I'm sorry," Obito muttered.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. He was weak."

Obito knew that wasn't true but swallowed his words. "What are you going to do now?" Was he going to stay here in an empty house? Could kids their age rent an apartment? He reminded himself to ask his mother if they could let Kakashi stay with them.

"I'm going to get stronger."

Kakashi walked back out and Obito trailed him with his eyes. He didn't bother telling his new friend it wasn't what he had meant. Then he noticed something on top of the entrance chest. It was a short blade, sheathed and sitting on a silk cloth. He picked it up and was surprised by its hefty weight.

"Hey, what about this?"

Kakashi turned and wordlessly took the sword, shoving it into the box he balanced in one arm. Then he went out and dumped it.

Obito heaved a sigh and decided to change tactics. He dug into his pockets for the scroll he had brought and blocking Kakashi's way back, he waved it in front of the masked face. "Guess what I borrowed from the library."

"You mean stole."

" _Borrowed_. It's level B Earth techniques and chakra control drills. Interested?" He grinned when he saw some light return to Kakashi's shuttered eyes.

Kakashi put out his hand.

Obito extended it halfway but snatched it back at the last moment with a laugh. "If you want it," he said, dancing out of reach from Kakashi's quick grab, "come and get it!"

He jumped over his friend and ran out into the streets, making sure an aggravated Kakashi was following. Neither of them noticed a figure drop down from the rooftop and pick up the sword in the dumpster.

(End Flashback)

In the end, the Hokage had acted as Kakashi's guardian and rented him a small apartment. Nevertheless Obito had never ceased to invite him to live with his family.

"Nayu might actually stop picking on me all the time," he muttered. His sister was considerably older and, according to Obito's many grumbling complaints, never missed a chance to bully him.

"Thanks Obito, but no," Kakashi said.

The answer didn't surprise Obito. He shrugged. "The offer's always open. By the way, when did you master the Goukakyuu? Midori's already jealous."

"Her element isn't fire."

"She wants to be an all-rounder like you."

Kakashi sighed. "She needs to stop seeing us as rivals."

Obito laughed. "We make a good team don't we? It'll take a hell of a lot, and then some, to beat us."

His grin was wide and contagious. Kakashi found himself smiling back, his eyes softening briefly.

It was a small change, but Obito wasn't one to miss it.

* * *

.LinSetsu.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The next morning, Kakashi and Obito sat in the kitchen with their heads together, surrounded by the pleasant smell of coffee and breakfast. Minato and Gamashi's seats were vacated – their teacher to send a report to Konoha, and their client to prepare for the visit to the lord's estate.

The last place at the table was notably untouched.

"I woke her up last time," Obito said in a low voice. "Lost half my hair to her Kamaitachi, remember?"

Kakashi shifted his eyes to his friend's head. "It's grown back."

"That's not the point!"

"We have ten minutes. Sensei's orders."

"You do it then."

"No."

Obito growled, sounding much like a frightened dog doing its best to appear intimidating.

Nanami looked from one of the other with a curious expression as she came back with a pot of tea. "What are you discussing?"

"How to wake Midori up," Obito replied. "Sensei told us to be ready by the time he comes back, but her temper's worse than a starving bear in the mornings."

Nanami laughed. "Let me try then."

Both Kakashi and Obito lurched out of their seats to try and stop her, but she picked up a bowl of fruit and headed straight for the guestroom. The two boys shared a horrified look and hurried after her to see her kneel beside the single occupied futon. She gently shook Midori's shoulder and murmured a soft good morning.

"You have to save her," Obito hissed, trying to push Kakashi into the room.

"It's too late," Kakashi shot back, digging his heels into the tatami floor.

Midori groaned and burrowed deeper into the covers. Undeterred, Nanami picked up a slice of fruit from the bowl and slipped it into Midori's mouth.

A moment of silence passed, the boys standing frozen in the doorway.

The futon covers rolled.

Kakashi tensed.

Obito jumped and shielded his hair.

"…breakfast?" a small voice whined.

"It's all laid out in the kitchen," Nanami replied brightly. "Would you like a slice of peach?"

Midori made an incoherent sound and Nanami obliged by feeding her another piece of fruit. Then she stood up and gave Midori a cheerful shake, covers and all.

"Come have some of the bread I baked this morning," she said. "It's still warm."

Midori's head emerged up from beneath the covers, eyes still half closed, as she sluggishly began to reach for her clothes. Nanami left the room with a bright smile and the two boys trailed after her in awe.

"How'd you do that?" Obito asked.

She chuckled. "Chewing helps to wake us up. My daughter used to be just like Midori. Has Kengou told you about her?"

Obito hesitated, seeing her expression slowly lose its mirth. "He said the Rocks took her away."

Nanami nodded and her eyes trailed to a photo on the wall. Kakashi noted that it hadn't been there the night before. He stepped closer to see a younger Gamashi and Nanami crouched on either side of a small girl. Her wide grin and bright eyes were framed by dark blonde hair tied into twin braids.

"What happened?" Obito asked.

Nanami sat down with a heavy sigh. "Ever since the last Shinobi War, the Hidden Rock Village began recruiting children from civilian towns to make up for their losses."

"That's not unheard of," Kakashi said. "Konoha does it too."

"But we don't just kidnap kids," Obito objected.

"They weren't forceful," Nanami said, "but I'm not sure how true their stories were. Misa took one look at their demonstrations and wanted to join. We forbid her, but she snuck out during the night with only a note telling us she was leaving. We were devastated."

"Didn't they let you go with her?" Obito asked. "Families move into Konoha all the time."

Nanami shook her head. "We tried. We were prepared to. But they wouldn't let us in."

"Why?"

Nanami had no answer and Kakashi could only shrug at Obito's questioning look. The short silence was broken by the sound of the guestroom door opening.

"Morning," Midori yawned. She paused mid-stretch and blinked at the heavy air hovering over the room.

Obito indicated to the photo. "Nanami-san was just telling us about her daughter."

"Oh." All signs of sleep vanished from her face as she approached the photo and studied it. Then she turned to Nanami with a smile. "She has your eyes, doesn't she?"

Nanami's expression softened and she nodded.

"Why didn't you want her to become a shinobi?" Kakashi asked. For all the dangers that came with the job, it provided an otherwise helpless girl with strength to defend herself and those she loved.

Over the past year, he had watched countless clients pay small fortunes for Konoha's help, unable to resolve their issues on their own. Gamashi was no different. In Kakashi's mind, there was nothing worse in this world than being powerless. Danger was a small price to pay in that regard.

Nanami bowed her head. "Forgive me when I say this, but we didn't want her to become a murderer."

"Better a murderer than a corpse."

"Kakashi!" Midori berated.

"He's right though," Obito said, sitting down beside Nanami at the table. "But it's not murder when both our lives are on the line."

Midori and Kakashi joined them.

"We're not all cold-blooded bastards either," Midori added. "Most of the jobs we do is helping people."

Though still looking a little pale, Nanami smiled at them. "I know," she said. "You three made me realize that. You believe in what you do and you all put the wellbeing of one another before yourselves. I never knew that was also part of being a shinobi and it made me proud that my daughter was one them – one of you."

Midori smiled. "I'm sure Misa will come back one day. She'll be an amazing kunoichi."

"Don't forget we're enemies now," Kakashi said. "If we see her, we'll be forced to – _ow_."

He scowled at both his teammates who had their heels digging into his feet.

Midori laughed forcefully. "We'll be forced to _say hello_ , right, Kakashi?"

"Don't worry, Nanami-san," Obito added hurriedly. "I mean, what are the odds that we'll meet her when all five countries are at war. And even if we do, we'll make an exception and –"

Nanami smiled, even as she lowered her eyes. "Thank you. You're all such sweet children. Please, have some of the bread, Midori-chan. It won't be long before Kengou and Minato-san return."

At Midori's questioning look, Obito explained where the two men were. Nodding, she began to eat and struck up a light-hearted conversation about the homemade jam and fruit juice.

A few minutes later, the door to the dining room opened to reveal Minato.

"Good morning," he said. "Are we ready?"

"Hai," Obito and Kakashi replied.

Midori stuffed the last of the bread into her mouth and hopped off the chair. Then they made their way down the short hallway to the entrance where Gamashi stood waiting.

"Be careful," Nanami said as the team slipped into their shoes and checked their equipment. "Please don't get hurt."

Midori grinned. "We'll be back before you know it."

"Let's go," Gamashi barked, throwing open the door. "We don't have all day."

Kakashi recognized he was resuming his outward persona and was about to follow Minato out without another thought when Nanami cleared her throat with the force of a man throwing down a gauntlet. Gamashi froze and looked back over his shoulder. The glare on his wife's face made him blanch and shuffle his feet in discomfort, while Obito ducked behind Kakashi and Midori snickered in glee.

Minato alone smiled with his usual cheer and nodded to Nanami. "We'll be off then."

Unlike the night before, the streets were filled with people, but rarely did anyone stop to chat. With faces downcast, they attended to their business and while a few turned wary eyes on them, none approached. They made their way deeper into the town, passing fewer people with every corner they turned until they looked up at a majestic building elevated on a low hill surrounded by a moat.

With a few words from Gamashi, the guards led them across the stone bridge and through a large gate. Spread on either side of the path leading to the entrance was an austere rock garden. It had clearly seen better days. Patches of weed grew between the pebbles that were scattered and marked with boot prints, and one of the stone lanterns lining the estate was toppled over and cracked in half.

The guards ushered them silently into the entrance hall where they left their shoes. The interior architecture was an unusual but graceful blend of earth-toned stone and wood. Gamashi led them down wide corridors that would have exuded an air of majesty had dust and cobwebs not hoarded the corners. No matter where they went, a stale smell filled the air, characteristic of rooms that had not seen the light of day for months.

"Doesn't he have anyone taking care of the estate?" Midori muttered.

"He fired all his employees a year ago, except for the advisor," Obito said.

"How did you find that out?"

He shrugged. "I carried some stuff for an old grandma and she told me."

Midori growled. "How do you always manage to do that?"

"Quiet," Gamashi hissed as he stopped in front of a large doorway. He knelt and rapped on the door. "Hiyashi-sama, they have arrived."

"Enter."

Gamashi pushed open the door and stepped inside with a low bow. The room was spacious and undecorated, save for an abstract mural along one wall. It was pockmarked with bare strips where gold inlays may have once resided. The other side of the room was lined with sliding wooden doors that led to an outer corridor. Through a small opening between two of partitions, Kakashi could glimpse the town spread out below them.

The team followed Gamashi and knelt before the three individuals seated at the head of the room.

The lord was a lean man with greying hair pulled into a tight knot high on his head. The dark kimono he wore emphasized the unnatural paleness of his skin, drawn and wrinkled with stress. He looked sick and frail, but he sat straight and glared at them with hard, narrowed eyes.

"I'm warning you, Gamashi," he said in a guttural voice. "If this turns out to be a waste of my time, you and your wife will pay dearly. As if it isn't enough that you explicitly defied my orders."

"Please, forgive him, my lord," his wife whispered nervously. She was a thin woman with fretful, watery eyes and hunched shoulders. "I told you, I was the one who told him to go to Konoha. I didn't want to see any more of our people killed."

"Silence!" Hiyashi snarled. The lady recoiled and shrank into herself.

Sitting on the lord's other side was a young man in his mid-twenties wearing a _haori_ jacket bearing the lord's crest. It was on this man that Kakashi focused his attention. His thin eyes were almost obscured by pale hair, and the blank expression on his pinched face revealed nothing. Still, he held himself with the quiet confidence of one who knew what he was doing – a trait neither the lord nor lady seemed to possess. Kakashi immediately surmised he was the rumored advisor, without even needing to see the low table beside him stacked with papers and scrolls.

"Hiyashi-sama," the advisor said quietly. "It isn't too late to send them away. We have more important matters to discuss."

"I beg your forgiveness," Gamashi interjected, lowering his head to the ground. "I swear to you, this information will be worthwhile."

Hiyashi pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed impatiently. "Well go on then. What is so important that the high and mighty shinobi has to present it in person himself?"

It was in that moment that Kakashi realized something – a faint, almost imperceptible sense of dissidence that mingled like an undercurrent in the air around the lord and lady. Beside him, Midori stirred uncomfortably and Minato gave her a sidelong look. Obito's eyes flicked between the three occupants of the estate, before settling on the advisor.

"Well?" the lord demanded, turning his irritated eyes to Minato.

"There is something I would like to know before we get to that, my lord," the Jounin said. "A simple question."

"What is it?"

"How do you see your town?"

Hiyashi was still for a second, then his eyes bulged in anger and he surged to his feet with a shout. "Are you blind?! You can see for yourself! The crops aren't growing, we're being shunned by our trading neighbors, we grow poorer each day and the people have had enough. They are abandoning the town, looting deserted houses and starting fights at every corner!"

He paced the width of the room, hands flailing in agitation, his mind consumed by his own tirade. "Even my estate workers have turned their backs on me and left! The only hope we have is to expand our lands and create our own sustainable trade – by force if need be!" As if finally remembering his audience, he whirled again to Minato. "Now, do you have information that will help my people or not?"

Minato regarded the lord in silence for a moment, but it was disrupted by Gamashi who lurched forward, eyes wide in confusion and shock. "Hiyashi-sama, what are you saying? The town is indeed suffering, but by no means are we abandoning –"

"Silence, Gamashi!"

"Perhaps, my lord," Minato said, "it's time you stepped out and took a good look at the town for yourself."

"What –"

Hiyashi's words were cut off the moment the advisor and Minato rose to their feet, each of them forming different seals. Minato was quicker. He executed the _Kanashibari no jutsu_ and paralyzed the advisor's limbs. His palms trembled, but didn't budge, an inch apart from finishing his last seal.

Ignoring the advisor's angry shout, Kakashi and Obito took one bound to land before the lord and lady. The lady screamed and Hiyashi threw up his arms in fright. Undeterred, the boys reached out to tap them with a surge of chakra that dispelled the illusions clinging tightly around them.

Hiyashi slowly lowered his hands and blinked at the two young shinobi.

"What did you…"

"My lord," Minato said, his eyes still fixed on the struggling advisor. "Take a look at your town."

Midori pushed open the wooden doors to reveal the view outside and Hiyashi stared in stunned disbelief.

"What in the world," he breathed, rushing to the windows. "Half these houses were crumbling and abandoned just this morning! The streets were lined with sick and dying people. Is this a dream?"

"No, you've woken from your nightmare," Minato answered. "This shinobi here has been holding you and your wife under an illusion for an entire year."

"Kashin, is that true?" Hiyashi asked.

"I advised you, _my lord_ ," the man hissed. "You shouldn't have allowed these shinobi to come."

"But why?"

"That's something we would all like to know," Minato said. He smiled pleasantly. "Now that we finally get to talk to the missing link, I have a few questions for you. Which Hidden Village do you come from and what business do you have with this town? Most importantly, why are you looking for information on the Sanbi?"

A second of surprise crossed Kashin's face before it turned into ugly rage. "Gamashi, you traitor!"

Obito snorted. "Like you're one to talk."

"Which Hidden Village?" Minato asked again. He slowed his words and dropped his tone. "Answer me."

Kashin glared. "As if I'd tell the likes of you."

"Hey, Kakashi?" Obito nudged his friend. "Remember that one proverb we learned at the Academy about the three arrows?"

"Three arrows are harder to break than one?" Kakashi said.

Obito grinned and brought his hands together in a rudimentary set of seals. "Exactly."

Midori rolled her eyes as she took up a position behind Kashin. "That proverb has a totally different meaning, you idiot."

Obito stuck his tongue out at her. "It means three is better than one. Right, sensei?"

Minato shrugged. "Can't argue with you there."

Kashin scoffed as Obito's illusion closed in around him. "I'm a genjutsu specialist. You think you can beat me at my own game?"

"For one, this isn't your game," Kakashi said. When he had dispelled Hiyashi's genjutsu, he had been struck by how delicately the chakra strings had been woven. From that alone, he could deduce the rigid control Kashin had held over the illusion, focusing on endurance and consistency to carry out his mission, whatever that was. The illusion they were about to use was far different.

Obito pulled out a kunai and threw it into the side of Kashin's stomach. The shinobi barely flinched.

Midori whistled. "That's the thing with genjutsu experts isn't it? They train their minds not to react to external stimuli. Must sure be handy."

"Not this time," Obito said. He released the illusion.

For a few seconds, Kashin blinked and stared at the wound, his face slowly paling when the pain wouldn't fade.

Kakashi stepped up to him and pulled the kunai free, ignoring his hiss of pain. He looked up into the shinobi's furious face.

"You're not in control anymore," he said. "So you aren't even playing."

Kakashi swiped the bloody weapon through Kashin's paralyzed fingers. The man gave a strangled cry before he realized he was under an illusion again – Midori's this time.

Withdrawing a second kunai, Kakashi rammed both into the back of Kashin's hands and activated his own genjutsu before throwing two more into his feet. Kashin gritted his teeth to stifle the pained groans and clamped his eyes shut. It was too late. All three of their genjutsu had penetrated his system, disrupting his chakra flow in short bursts of chaotic violence.

Overlapping one layer of illusion over another, pulling one out and slipping in another, they chipped away at his rational mind and composure until he wouldn't be able to differentiate reality from hallucination. In sharp contrast to Kashin's refined genjutsu, theirs were erratic, contradictory and unpredictable – real when he convinced his mind it was illusion, and fake when he feared it was true. Ironically, it was his own training and expertise that helped the three young shinobi bring him to his knees.

Kakashi leapt up and drove a kunai into Kashin's left eye. The shinobi screamed. Blood streaked down his face and he grew visibly more panicked with every passing second.

"That wasn't an illusion," Kakashi told him, even though it was. "You'd better hope this next one is."

He sliced the kunai's edge into the corner of Kashin's gaping mouth and Obito's illusion took it a step further so he felt it tear his cheek open. Kakashi repeated the same motion on the other side. The illusionist shrieked through the blood in his mouth and begged for mercy.

Kakashi paused. "Which Hidden Village?"

"The Cloud," Kashin gasped.

Minato put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and nodded. He immediately stepped back and stood in front of Hiyashi. Obito and Midori dropped their illusions and likewise took up guard beside Gamashi and the lady.

When Minato released the body binding technique, Kashin fell to his knees, shoulders heaving. Though his clothes were bloody from the small nicks and stabs that Kakashi had inflicted to confuse his mind, none were life-threatening.

The Jounin knelt in front of the broken shinobi. "What was your mission?"

Kashin only breathed heavily for a moment, one hand pressed against his torn lips and the other trembling against the initial stab wound. Then without a sound, he shot up from the floor.

He snarled a curse and thrust a hidden knife at Minato, but the Jounin remained unfazed. He caught the hand before the tip of the weapon even touched his vest and, twisting the blade from Kashin's fingers, stabbed it through the back of his hand, pinning him to the floor.

The Cloud screamed and doubled over, but Minato held a hand over the hilt to keep it in place.

"Your mission," Minato repeated, his voice dangerously quiet.

"To… to monitor this town and prevent the Rocks from siding with the Sands."

"This town has little influence over the Hidden Rock."

A shadow of Kashin's old confidence returned and he gave a small, shaky grin. "I sold them information. As useless as this town was… its extensive trade routes were invaluable for gathering intelligence. Information is everything. I told the Rocks that the Sands were planning an invasion… See how well that turned out?"

Minato narrowed his eyes. "What about the Sanbi?"

Kashin laughed weakly. "Ever since the Mists let the beast escape, they've been searching for it like fanatics, tracking down every lead. Bet those high and mighty idiots never thought to ask seaport fishermen, huh? The Sanbi will be ours now."

"I doubt it," Minato replied. "The information you read was wrong. I overwrote it last night."

The Cloud's head swung up, eyes wide. "You filthy fucking Leaf!"

He threw himself forward, his rage and desperation numbing the pain of tearing his hand from the knife. Minato jerked back and landed a foot cleanly in Kashin's chest, sending the Cloud crashing into the wooden doors.

Before he could draw breath, Minato stood over him, a kunai at his throat. "Go. Never show your face in this town again."

Kashin rose unsteadily to his feet, his eyes darting nervously around the room. Obito, Kakashi and Midori braced themselves, but the Cloud turned and fled through the windows.

Minato watched him disappear over the roofs and then turned with a shrug and a smile to the other occupants in the room. "Well, that's that."

A collective sigh broke through the tense air in the room and Gamashi collapsed against the wall, sweating and pale.

"What in the world did you kids do?" he muttered.

Obito grinned and held up his fingers in a basic seal form. "I could show you if you want."

"No!" Gamashi shook his head vigorously and Obito laughed.

"Nice work you three," Minato said. "You judged Kashin's abilities well and your teamwork was spot on. It saved us a lot of time and effort."

"What about the information we got out of him?" Kakashi asked.

"We'll deal with that later," Minato replied, turning to the lord and lady.

Hiyashi recovered his composure and bowed deeply to the team. "Thank you, shinobi of Konoha. How can we ever repay you for what you have done for us?"

"We don't need repayment," Minato said with a shake of his head. "Just take care of the town and your people. It would also be wise to reach out to the Hidden Rock Village and explain what happened. You'll need their protection now more than ever."

Hiyashi nodded. "Regardless of our affiliation, you and your team will always be welcome here. Thank you."

He and his wife bowed lowed again and the group took their leave.

They walked in silence as they left the estate and headed back to the center of town.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd rewritten the scroll?" Gamashi asked.

"I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark," Minato said. "I needed you to act naturally. That information was too dangerous to risk falling into the wrong hands."

"So what happens now?" Obito asked.

"Hokage-sama needs to be informed. Immediately. I can only hope the information was wrong or that the Sanbi will go into hiding. Bringing a tailed beast into this coming war would be disastrous."

Kakashi listened in silence. He had only ever heard stories of the Bijuu in folktales and history books, but the strained look on Minato's face told him enough about how much of a threat they really posed.

When they reached the house, they found Nanami waiting anxiously in the entrance and hurried to reassure her that their mission had been a success. Her joy was short-lived, however, as they told her about Kashin and their need to return to Konoha without delay.

"You won't even stay for lunch?" she asked.

Minato gently turned her down. "We must be on our way. The Village needs us."

"I see." She covered her disappointment with a gentle smile. "Please promise you'll visit when everything settles down."

"We will."

Within minutes the team was packed and ready to leave. Gamashi and Nanami stood at the entrance, thanking them again and again. Obito and Kakashi said their goodbyes and followed Minato down the street, but Midori hesitated and turned back one last time.

"I don't care that we're enemies with the Hidden Rock," she said. "If we ever see Misa, I'll make sure that no one harms her and I'll convince her to come home. I promise."

Nanami reached out to hug her, her lips quivering voicelessly and her eyes filled with tears.

"Thank you, Midori," Gamashi said. "For everything. You will always be welcome here. Take care of yourselves."

She grinned, and then turned and ran after her team.

* * *

Translations:  
 _Haori_ – Traditional kimono jacket  
 _Kanashibari no jutsu_ – Body paralysis

Thanks for reading! Your thoughts are always welcome.

.LinSetsu.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Sensei?" Kakashi picked up his speed to run alongside his teacher. They were an hour into their return journey, navigating across the arid lands.

Minato glanced at him. "Hm?"

"Was it really okay to let the Cloud go?"

For a second Minato considered lying, but then reminded himself there was no point in coddling his students for the sake of his own conscience.

He thought back to Kakashi's performance in the battle just now. Setting aside his own ruthlessness, Minato had felt a twinge of unease watching his student. It wasn't that he thought Kakashi was cruel. He had done well to break Kashin's mind – almost too well. Every day he spent with these young children was a reminder that they were not just children, but soldiers.

Minato sighed and pushed the thoughts aside for now. "I took care of him."

Neither surprise nor agitation passed through Kakashi's face. He took the fact in stride. Minato could almost see it being sorted and accommodated in the boy's analytical mind.

"You marked him with the _Hiraishin_ when he tried to stab you." It wasn't a question.

Minato was surprised. He had on occasion used the dimension warping technique in front of his students, but had never explained what it was or how it worked. Come to think of it, back when Jyakou had ambushed them, it was as if Obito had also known that Minato would use the Hiraishin. The circumstances had made him forget that particular detail entirely. With a rueful quirk of his lips, he realized there was very little he could keep from his observant students.

"When did you figure it out?" he asked.

"Recently," Kakashi replied with a shrug. "So you killed him?"

Minato thought his disappearance of a few minutes had gone unnoticed while his students had packed. Clearly not. He sighed and looked ahead. The sky was filling with clouds, casting the land around them in shadow. He hoped it wasn't symbolic.

"Yes." There was no point in being delicate about it. "Kashin's dead."

Kakashi only nodded.

.-.-.-.

Minato set a hard pace for the next two days, never stopping for more than an hour at a time. They didn't meet anyone and weren't intercepted when they crossed the border, but they knew they were being watched for several miles into the forests of Fire Country.

They arrived home close to midnight on the third day, exhausted and covered in dust. The team paused under the guard tower to catch their breaths.

"I'm going to hand in the reports and meet with the Third," Minato said. He smiled, the only one among them who looked no worse for wear. "Our mission's complete. Well done. Midori, Obito, you're free until further notice. Get some rest. Kakashi, come with me."

Kakashi looked up with a questioning look, but wordlessly followed Minato up onto the rooftops. With every leap across the village a bad feeling settled heavier and heavier in Kakashi's mind. It was proven right when they landed in front of the hospital gates.

He slid a glance at Minato.

"Don't give me that look," the Jounin said, leading the way into the facilities. "Never take poison lightly. Even if you feel fine."

Minato explained the situation to the nurse who checked them in, reinforced his orders to Kakashi and then left. Kakashi gave a quiet, irritated sigh and followed the nurse into an examination room.

"The Mists, huh?" she said while she lit her palms with chakra and pressed them against his arm. "You're lucky, it must have been some standard poison. I heard some of their latest concoctions can kill a grown shinobi within minutes."

"What does it take to counteract it?"

The nurse raised a brow at him. "No amount of bravado that's for sure. The best way is to not get hit at all."

Kakashi nodded silently, but he wasn't thinking about himself. It struck him that if he had been a second late or if it had been a different poison, he could have gotten Midori killed. He would have failed his father. The thought made him feel cold inside, despite the warmth of the healer's chakra.

The examination went on for another half hour. The nurse poked and prodded, asked questions and took several blood samples, then told Kakashi to wait there for the results to come back.

The moment the door closed, Kakashi jumped out the window.

He reasoned he wasn't disobeying Minato's orders. He had gone through the tests. If they found anything they would contact him. With that, he put the issue to rest.

The main streets were quiet, but Kakashi nevertheless kept to the side alleys or rooftops. He lived in a bachelor's apartment block nestled in a corner of town where the streets were narrow and ill kept. It was a place mothers herded their young away from and that suited Kakashi fine.

The Third had also given him the option of living closer to the residential side of town where he had grown up, but he had been quick to turn down the offer. At least here, across the village, he wouldn't have to run into familiar neighbors. Most of the residents in this block were shinobi who were rarely back for more than a day between missions and no one paid him any attention.

He climbed the stairs to his room and let himself in without turning on the lights. He slid out of his shoes, side-stepped the small kitchen and opened the door into the bedroom. Moonlight streamed in from the window, illuminating the small space he now called home.

Kakashi dropped his bag at the foot of the desk, then pulled off his forehead protector and unclipped the weapons pouch, placing them on the shelf above the bed. His eyes lingered on the team photo, the only piece of decoration in the room.

He hesitated, half wanting to fall asleep right away. But the niggling unrest in his mind made him turn on the bedside lamp and pick up a ninjutsu scroll. He read far into the night, listening to two cats screeching intermittently across the street.

.-.-.-.

The sunlight stung his eyes. Kakashi turned over and buried his face in the pillow, but sleep had already fled. He sighed and sat up, glancing at the clock. He squinted and looked again. It was past 9. No wonder the sun was so high. The abundant light coming through the window made his room look unfamiliar and reminded him how little time he spent in there.

After taking a shower and a bite of leftover field rations, Kakashi left the apartment. He avoided the crowded streets and took a longer but quieter route to the training grounds where he found several teams already occupying the fields. He wandered deeper into the forest until he found an open area secluded by a dense line of trees on one side and a river on the other.

He thought again of the fight against the Mists and the nurse's words the night before. He had to protect his team. The Chuunin exam and their latest mission were consecutive reminders that even the smallest lapse in concentration could spell death for any one of them.

He should have been quicker, noticed the poison sooner, kept a tab on where his teammates were located, known a jutsu that could have deflected the weapons. The options were endless and yet he had managed to do none of them.

Irritation clouded his mind. He needed to grow stronger.

Kakashi pushed off the ground and landed in the middle of the river. _Suiton Suijinheki_. The moment he touched the water, it shot up in a circular wall around him and then crashed down to rejoin the current a second later. Kakashi lowered his joined hands and stared thoughtfully into the distance. If he could precision control the technique to rise only where he needed the protection, he was confident he could shorten both the time and seals needed to execute it.

Next time, he vowed, he wouldn't mess up in battle.

"Kakashi!"

He turned and saw Midori and Obito heading his way. He blinked.

"I don't remember making plans to meet up," he said, walking back to shore.

Midori grinned. "I caught Obito this morning."

"She wants to learn the Goukakyuu," Obito mumbled, his voice making no secret of his doubts. Midori struck his head with her fist and he gave a short cry.

"You want to stick around?" she asked Kakashi with a sly grin and meaningful glint in her eyes.

"I was actually –"

"You _will_ stick around, right?" She spoke through clenched teeth and her hand grabbed a fistful of his shirt collar. "After all, you know the technique."

"I think it's safer if you agree," Obito whispered into his ear while rubbing his sore head.

Kakashi sighed in resignation and nodded.

"Let's get it over with then," Obito said. "The seals are Snake, Sheep, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger." Midori silently went through the motion of the seals. When she felt comfortable with them she looked up and Obito went on. "The theory behind the technique is simple: draw chakra to your lungs, concentrate it and then release. Just like sucking in air and blowing out."

Midori nodded, her brows furrowed in concentration. Her hands flicked through the seals, faster now, and took a deep breath.

"Wait Midori!" both boys shouted in wide eyed alarm.

"What?" she snapped

"That way!" Obito shot back, pointing to the river. "Do you want to burn us alive?"

"Oh." She stuck out her tongue and grinned sheepishly. Obito and Kakashi sighed and watched their teammate walk onto the river, facing the flow. Her hands deftly went through the seals again, her chest expanded and she let loose the Goukakyuu – a flicker of fire the size of a candle flame.

Kakashi's expression didn't change. Obito shook his head. Midori coughed into her hand, the color rising to her face.

"I was just warming up!" she called and repeated the technique. There was no difference.

"This might take a while," Obito muttered, settling down on the grass.

Kakashi wasn't surprised. It wasn't easy manipulating an element beyond one's affinity. Midori, in particular, was talented in extending her chakra outside her body to control surrounding elements. Fire and lightning, however, required a greater internal concentration of chakra to produce an element not already at hand.

"She would have an easier time with water and earth techniques," he said.

"That's what I told her. I even brought her a scroll full of wind ninjutsu but she wasn't interested." Obito pulled out the rolled parchment from his pocket and glanced through it. "Maybe I should try some of these."

"Wind and fire make good combinations," Kakashi agreed. "It's about time you learned something other than Katon techniques."

"Tell that to the clan geezers," Obito snorted. "They're obsessed with the Uchiha legacy. You wouldn't believe how often they've 'happened' to be taking a stroll in front of our house to see if I've awakened the Sharingan yet. They think I'm somehow special because I graduated early. What if I'm just good at Bunshin no jutsu?"

"From what I've heard, not everyone inherits the bloodline trait."

Obito looked horrified. "They're bad enough now, what will they do if I don't? I know a distant cousin who never developed the Sharingan. His family married so many outsiders he knows more snow techniques than fire for crying out loud. I think we share great-grandparents or something. What if I end up like him?"

"I don't know, why are you asking me?" Kakashi muttered.

Obito sighed heavily and flopped onto his back. Almost as quickly, he sat back up, grimacing and rubbing the bump on his head where Midori had punched him.

"And why can't she be like every other girl? Like Rin?" he grumbled. "Shy, gentle, kind, giggly, fashionable, less violent… Far less violent."

"Rin and every other girl are still at the Academy practicing shuriken throws," Kakashi replied. "They won't be any help in the war."

Obito stared into the distance and his voice was quieter when he spoke. "I hope it ends before they need to."

Kakashi doubted that but didn't say it out loud. They settled into a comfortable silence, the only sounds coming from Midori's frustrated efforts on the river. After a while they eventually died down and Obito turned to see their teammate making her way toward them.

"Are you here to make another lump on my head?" he asked.

"No." She looked uncomfortable and turned her face to the side to avoid eye-contact with either of them. "Could you…give me a hint?"

"There really isn't any," Obito replied, much to Midori's visible aggravation. "It's just a different way of molding chakra. It'll take time before you get used to it."

"Can you show me? Just once."

Obito shrugged and agreed. They returned to the riverside and he performed the technique while Midori studied his every move. Once the flames disappeared, Midori stepped onto the water and tried again – with no success.

Obito said something, Midori snapped back, and it soon devolved into a bickering argument with the both of them trying to pinch and twist each other's cheeks while hurling garbled insults. The sight made Kakashi laugh before he could check himself and strangely, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders. He wanted to protect this inexplicable sense of warmth that his team gave him. Whether it stemmed from duty or friendship as Obito insisted, he didn't know. For now, it seemed irrelevant.

"Wait! Midori! Midori!" Obito shouted, stumbling back from the river with his hands held out to ward off her pincers. "Stop, I have an idea! Let's play a game!"

He looked over his shoulder and grinned.

Kakashi got a bad feeling.

"If we beat the genius here," Obito went on, "he shows us what's under that mask."

"What kind of a game is that?" Kakashi grumbled.

"A curiosity game. I mean, come on, you eat by yourself, you keep the mask on when you sleep, you even manage to brush your teeth without us knowing. If it hadn't been for sensei, I swear I would have taken it off while you were out cold from that poison."

"He really tried," Midori giggled.

"Besides, we disturbed your training," Obito added. "Think of it as repayment."

"A poor one," Kakashi muttered.

Midori grinned and cracked her knuckles. "I'm game."

Kakashi sighed. He hated it when his bad feelings proved right.

By the time the sun began slanting into the west, Kakashi was bent over at the waist, hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath. He was scratched, bruised, sweaty and dirty but a sight better than the other two sprawled on the ground.

They were back by the river, Obito still half submerged in it. Midori lay with her eyes closed, face-down on the grass with dirt and grime smeared from head to toe. The field surrounding them was trampled, pockmarked and burned in more than a few places. Even the trees looked disheveled.

"Dammit… we were so close," Midori said between gasps of air.

"That's an optimistic way of putting it," Obito said as he heaved himself out of the river with shaky arms.

"Shut up."

Kakashi straightened and glanced at the edge of the forest. "Sensei?"

Midori and Obito looked up and were surprised to see their teacher drop down in front of them.

"How long have you been there?" Obito asked.

"For the past half hour," Kakashi replied instead.

Midori dropped her face back into the grass with a groan. "I didn't even notice."

"I didn't want to disturb you," Minato said with a smile.

Obito pushed back his wet hair and drained the water from his goggles. "Please say we don't have a mission now."

Minato laughed lightly. "We don't."

All three sighed in relief.

"Kakashi."

Kakashi froze and glanced at his teacher from the corner of his eyes.

Minato forced a grin and spoke through clenched teeth. "Nurse Tomoe gives her regards. She told me all about the empty room she walked into last night."

"But no Kage Bunshin," Kakashi pointed out.

Obito snorted with laughter.

"He got you there, sensei," Midori said.

Minato gave a loud sigh. "You guys are hopeless." Then he turned serious. "We just had an emergency meeting. A Genin group came back earlier today with their Jounin teacher critically injured. They were attacked crossing the border. The Clouds and Rocks have also officially declared open war. We're to tell all our students that no one leaves the Village walls unless on a mission. Border patrols are being set up as we speak."

"What about the Sanbi?" Kakashi asked.

"An ANBU team was just dispatched to verify the information. Needless to say, anything regarding the beast is confidential, understand?"

The three nodded.

Minato then turned to Midori with a lighter expression. "How did the Goukakyuu go?"

She sat up. "How did you know about that?"

"Your fingers. Everyone burns them the first time they begin practicing a Katon jutsu."

Midori closed her hand over the raw thumb and index finger and scowled at the ground. Minato chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"We start missions again tomorrow, so be ready."

"Hai," they replied.

Sunset saw them walking down to the village together, three children barely the height of their teacher's waist but with heads held high and unafraid. Every day they grew – taller, stronger, faster, wiser; a shade more cynical and apprehensive of a harsh world but meeting it with courage, dedication and loyalty to their Village and each other.

So the days turned to months, the months to years, until four years had gone by.

* * *

Translations:  
 _Hiraishin -_ flying thunder god  
 _Suiton Suijinheki_ \- wall of water  
 _Bunshin no jutsu_ \- clone technique

.LinSetsu.


	7. Part II: Friend or Foe, Chapter 7

**Part II: Friend or Foe**

 **Chapter Seven:**

 _Fuuton Souga Toppuu_.

Sharp gales of crescent winds slashed through the trees and bore down on two figures leaping from branch to branch. The attack took one down, slicing deep into his body. The other propelled himself up and over the winds, only to be shot down by a streak of fire.

Kakashi swung a chakra-charged heel into the injured shinobi's chest and sent him crashing into the trunk of a tree. He had a kunai pressed into his jugular before the man even had time to gasp in a breath.

"You have no reason to be in Fire Country. Get out."

The Rock glared at Kakashi but stood up and disappeared as soon as the blade was withdrawn. Kakashi watched him pick up his fallen comrade from the forest floor and take off in the direction of the border they shared with several small countries in the west. Earth Country was a day's journey beyond that but the Hidden Rock forces had encroached to the doorsteps of Fire.

Midori and Obito landed on either side of him.

"Our team's on their way home," Midori said.

Kakashi nodded. As border control they were responsible for providing back-up for teams crossing the border, in or out, in case they were ambushed by the Rocks. It was a frequent occurrence.

Obito stretched and yawned. "Let's find a place to rest. The next team from Konoha won't arrive until dawn."

They did one last patrol of their stretch of land and then settled under an overhang of gnarled, ancient roots. Unlike the flat lands surrounding Konoha, the forest here grew on rugged slopes and river gorges, making it easy to find cover but equally as hard to detect enemies.

Kakashi took the first watch and sat on a low branch above their hideout. Below him, Obito and Midori were quietly squabbling, as was still their habit. At least that much hadn't changed in four years.

Many other things had. Midori and Obito had made Chuunin two years ago during a hastily organized exam held between Konoha and the Sand. Whereas the previous exam had focused heavily on showcasing individual combat skills, this one had prioritized tactical maneuvers and ambush strategies as partial training for the war.

Since their success, Minato had increasingly been called to solo missions and the three Chuunin were sent out on their own. Somehow, their teacher still managed to coordinate their times back in the village to train, but while none of the three said it out loud, they missed his cheerful, calm presence at times – especially when they were on border patrols or sent as reinforcements to battles.

Kakashi looked down at his teammates who had settled into light slumber. They all wore their Chuunin vests now, as much to show their rank as to carry weapons and tools when they left the village for extended periods of time. Obito wore his clan crest on his sleeve, but his goggles were still stubbornly fixed over his eyes. Midori had grown out her hair and kept it tied in a braided knot that made her look sterner than they all knew she was. Though Obito made fun of her, both he and Kakashi could understand her decision. Their youth had been an advantage on numerous occasions, but sometimes it also drew unnecessary conflicts.

.-.-.-.

Midori bolted awake, her eyes wide and her breaths coming in uneven gasps. For several long seconds she stared blankly down at her hands, waiting for the dream to fade away.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up and saw Obito sitting with his back against the great roots. He was rolling a piece of wood chip unhurriedly in his hand. He had picked up the habit of fiddling with things over the years.

"Nothing." She looked away and saw Kakashi laying a little distance away with his back turned.

"You don't have to act tough," Obito said. His voice was quiet, so unlike the screeches she was used to hearing when they fought – which was most of the time.

She breathed in deeply and let it out in a slow exhale as she ran a hand over her dusty face. "I keep dreaming about battles."

Obito was silent a moment. "You mean…?"

"No." She shook her head. "Not that."

Several months before their Chuunin exam, Midori had killed an enemy for the first time and it had haunted her for weeks. Minato had stuck close to the team after that and though Midori eventually recovered her balance, some part of her innocence had died with the man. They had all gone through that change.

"Just dreams of chaos and blood," Midori whispered. "I hate this war."

"I'm with you there," Obito replied.

There was a rustling in the trees. They were on their feet in a second, looking up at the roots arching above them where two Leaf ninjas landed.

"We're here to take over," one of them said. "Hokage-sama summoned you."

"What for?" Obito muttered, more to himself. Before either of them had a chance to reply, Kakashi darted up the root and slashed a kunai across the throat of the nearest man. With a gurgled cry he fell down the other side and the second shinobi jumped away in alarm.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted. He turned to Midori and Obito. "Get your teammate in check! He's killed his own comrade!"

"Kakashi?" Midori asked.

"They reek of blood and burnt flesh," he said.

"So? We were in a fight," the shinobi explained.

"Against us?" Obito finished. "You should have thought to change your scent. Kakashi doesn't forget a person's stink so quickly."

The shinobi ground his teeth in annoyance. He released the Henge as he took off, hurling several shuriken at them, which Kakashi countered easily.

"He had his chance. Don't let him get away."

"Of course not," Obito said, leaping up into the trees. Kakashi followed suit while Midori flicked through a set of hand seals. The two boys were already in position when her winds tore across the forest floor, raising dirt and leaves in a flurry to block the enemy. The Rock dropped to the ground, preparing to hide beneath the soil but was forced to jump over a streak of lightning. He realized his mistake as soon as a set of wires tightened around his body and flared up in angry flames.

Midori ran toward the enemy engulfed in Obito's katon technique. She hooked a finger around a kunai and gripped it tight, ready to finish her part. But she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, a light tap, and watched Kakashi leap ahead of her. Pushing off the ground with a burst of chakra, he buried his kunai into the Rock's throat, heedless of the flames, and skidded to a stop behind the figure that had gone still. With a thud, he collapsed and Obito released his flames.

Midori stared at the body and then turned to Kakashi. "You don't need to protect me anymore. I'm fine."

"I know." It was all he said. Without a word they headed back to their hideout and found the other Rock still alive and crawling away. His wound was deep. Kakashi knew it was only a matter of time before he bled out. Pulling out another kunai, he headed toward the Rock but as he stooped down to put him out of his misery, Kakashi felt a new presence landing in the shadows right before him. He jumped back, weapon raised defensively as another Konoha Jounin stepped out.

Barely sparing a glance at the three Chuunin, he knelt by the Rock ninja and gathered a visible glow of chakra around his hands. Kakashi recognized it as medical ninjutsu and was about to stop him when the Jounin tapped a hand against the ninja's back. The Rock gave a sharp gasp and all life left him. The vacant eyes staring at the three Chuunin told them he was dead.

"I hate seeing kids do the dirty work," the Jounin said, finally looking up to meet their wary eyes. He had no striking characteristic; just an ordinary man with a worn hitai-ate around his neck. When he stepped toward them, the three raised their weapons.

"Suspicion is a good," he said, lifting his hands in a peaceful gesture. The chakra was gone. "But I'm not your enemy. Didn't you get our message? We left the Village early."

"Everyone seems to be early today," Midori said.

"Who are 'we' anyway?" Obito asked.

"Midori?"

They all turned to see two children stepping out of from behind the trees: a girl with a bob-cut framing her gentle eyes and a frowning boy wearing an all-black outfit.

"Rin," Midori said in surprise, lowering her kunai. Obito and Kakashi did so too, recognizing them both.

"They didn't tell us you were on border patrol," Rin said, hugging Midori and smiling at the other two boys. "It's been so long."

"Not long enough," the boy muttered.

Obito wrapped an arm around his shoulder playfully. "Don't be like that Asuka. It's good to see you both."

"I see we don't need introductions," the Jounin said.

"Just yours," Kakashi replied.

"The name's Nobuki." He paused for a moment, his eyes on the four. "Is this a family reunion or what?"

"Of sorts," Kakashi said.

Asuka was pushing away from Obito, the bold Uchiha crests on their clothes lined together, shoulder to back. Midori and Rin had grown to look even more alike over the years despite their different hairstyles.

"You should hear the praise for you back home," Rin as saying. "They say you're even better than some of the adults."

Midori smiled ruefully and shrugged. "You're training to be a medic. That's going to be more help in this war than I'll ever be."

Rin blinked and looked at her with worried eyes. "Is everything okay?"

"Maybe I'm just a little tired," Midori admitted. "We've been out here for almost a week."

Asuka made a derisive noise. "That's why girls shouldn't become soldiers."

Rin began to berate him but Midori beat her to it with a sharp laugh. "Look who's talking. The dead last of the class. Should I remind you of the time we sparred at the Academy?"

"I don't like hitting girls."

"Good luck when you run into enemy kunoichi," Midori retorted.

"Enough chit-chat kids," Nobuki cut in. "We have a mission to do."

"Where are you headed?" Obito asked.

"A small village in River Country," Rin said. "Reports say the people there practice an unusual form of medicine that might cure our teacher."

"You mean, he isn't?" Midori asked, looking to Nobuki.

He shook his head. "I just got dumped with them because I'm a medic and they both seem interested in learning. Their teacher was injured in the last battle and brought back in a coma."

"You're training to be a medic?" Obito asked, his incredulous eyes on Asuka.

"You have a problem with it?" he snapped back. Without waiting for a reply, he turned to Rin. "This mission is just wild rumors. You shouldn't get your hopes up."

"As pessimistic as ever," Obito said. "What kind of a medic will that make you? Put some faith in hope."

"Hope never got me anywhere," Asuka retorted.

The conversation reminded Kakashi of their Academy days. They had all enrolled in the same year but Asuka, who had never shared Obito's talent for shinobi skills or social ease, had often sat alone in sullen silence. Kakashi hadn't disliked him. In fact, they had sat together in silence on several occasions, reading on a bench behind the Academy. Still, there was no denying his shortcomings. Asuka had continually failed to make it out from Obito's shadow and was often labeled 'the other Uchiha' behind his back. His brittle personality and harsh words hadn't earned him any favors either. The only one who would talk to him was Rin, who had time and again defended his criticism of others by saying he was always that much harder on himself.

From what Kakashi remembered, Asuka hadn't shown any indication of being a good chakra controller, which was a definite requirement for anyone hoping to enter the medical field. And while it made sense to train together as a team, in terms of efficiency and mission success rates, it would have been better to separate them – if Asuka was really trying to become a medic. The discrepancy bugged him but he decided to keep it to himself for now.

"What happened to your third team member?" he asked instead.

"We never had one," Rin said. "Since the war began, some civilian families pulled their children out of the Academy and the numbers didn't work out."

"A bunch of cowards," Asuka said. "They can't escape the war."

Midori's face darkened. She had never been tolerant of his attitude when he couldn't even back it up with action but she tried to believe Rin's words. Her cousin was particularly perceptive when it came to people and often saw something beneath the underneath that Midori tended to miss. So she said nothing.

"Don't be a prick, Asuka," Obito said. "They're still our friends and citizens of Fire Country. It's our responsibility to protect them."

"They were never my friends."

"Alright, enough," Nobuki cut in again. "At this rate our early start will end up being meaningless. Let's go."

With wordless nods, they set out to the border. Obito scouted ahead while Midori and Kakashi flanked the team. All was quiet and it wasn't long before they crossed safely into River Country. For several miles they traveled together and then halted briefly where the forest began to thin out.

"This is as far as we go," Kakashi said.

Nobuki nodded.

Rin took Midori's hands and squeezed gently. "Thank you," she said, smiling. "Obito, Kakashi, thank you too."

The three of them watched the medic team continue their journey, just as the sky began to brighten into a pale grey.

Obito clasped his hands behind his head. "Just two words, but it feels good to be appreciated sometimes."

Midori turned to her teammates, a smile on her face and nodded.

* * *

What do you know – completely new chapter. I doubt anyone's bothering, but if you're following the old version too, don't read on this time.

Translation:  
 _Fuuton Souga Toppuu -_ Gale of Claws and Fangs _  
_

Response to reviewer Guest: Thanks for your review! Sorry it takes me a while until the next update to respond. I'm glad you're in favor of Rin coming back. We'll see how canon it ends up. I'm still mulling. As for how dark this can get, I think it'll be a lot darker than it originally was. As this chapter probably already illustrates, I'm going to really push the 'growing up in war' aspect of Kakashi.

Thank you to everyone else reading along too!

.LinSetsu.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight:**

Two days after parting with Rin and her team, Kakashi, Midori and Obito were heading back to Konoha. With every mile they covered, their mood lightened and wasn't even dampened when they flushed out a Cloud spy halfway home. They sent him fleeing for the border with a broken arm and several third degree burns before continuing on their way. By the time they neared the Konoha gates, Midori and Obito were in a full blown argument, darting left and right after each other.

While the two rushed through to the gates, still preoccupied with throwing jabs, insults and the occasional fist, Kakashi stopped on one of the last trees and looked down at the Village. There had been two battles right up against the walls of their home and the scars still lingered months later – perhaps more so in the citizens than the cracks and scorch marks running around the periphery of Konoha's walls.

"Kakashi?" Obito called from the gates where they had cleared security checks. One side of the monumental entrance was being opened for them. "Come on!"

He leapt down and rejoined his teammates, who were standing side-by-side like they hadn't spent the last half hour in each other's faces. They walked down the main street at a more leisurely pace, occasionally pulling Midori away from dango stores and keeping out of the way of shinobi hurrying past. A quiet buzz of talk hovered in the air from the villagers but laughs were hushed and short.

"Look, there's Minato-sensei," Midori said, pointing to the roof of the administration building just below the Hokage's offices. Their teacher stood talking with another man, but as they neared, he noticed them and waved, indicating they could come up.

"What about reporting in?" Obito said.

"Later," Midori replied, already jumping up. Kakashi and Obito shrugged and followed. They landed on the railing like three agile cats before hopping down beside their teacher. Kakashi remained crouched on the rail, his eyes on the other man with a mane of white hair and two distinct markings trailing down from his eyes.

"Jiraiya-sensei," Minato said, "this is my team, Midori, Obito and Kakashi."

They bowed respectfully. The name of one of the legendary Sannin was not lost on them.

Jiraiya grinned. "I've heard all the stories about you. The youngest Chuunin team in Konoha history. Too bad you aren't old enough to enjoy all the good things in life yet."

Minato coughed loudly.

Midori tilted her head with a puzzled frown but shrugged it off her mind. "Jiraiya-sama, has there been any news of Tsunade-sama's whereabouts?"

Jiraiya sighed and shook his head. "There aren't enough people we can spare to look for her right now."

None of the three had actually met the renowned kunoichi but had often heard her name being whispered in desperation in the hospital and medical tents. _If only Tsunade-sama were here…_

A silence fell over the group, indicating that Jiraiya had something else he wanted to talk to Minato about in private. Obito stirred and said, "We should go hand in our mission report."

The three bowed again and left.

"They're a clever group, Minato," Jiraiya said as they watched the team disappear into the administration building. "And strong. A week at the border and they barely have a handful of scratches between the three of them."

"Hai…"

"You don't sound too happy."

"I am, I just wish the war wasn't forcing them to grow up so quickly."

"Kids like yours grow up fast in our world, with or without a war. We're talking about Sakumo's prodigy and an Uchiha elite after all. You were worried about the girl, weren't you? Don't worry, she'll be fine. She has Tsunade's sort of eyes."

Minato gave his teacher a sidelong look. "And where is Tsunade-sama now, sensei?"

Jiraiya grimaced. "Why do you have to be such a smartass Minato?"

.-.-.-.

Midori stretched her arms above her head as they walked out of the offices. "Finally, some downtime! What do you want to do?"

"Get some rest?" Obito said. "That's usually what downtimes are for."

"Let's go train," she said as if she hadn't heard a word.

Obito made a face. "We just got back."

"There's always room for practicing some ninjutsu."

"You don't mean 'ninjutsu' in general, do you? You mean the Goukakyuu, which you still haven't mastered in four years."

Midori grinned and slammed her fist on his head.

Obito yelped, stumbling forward from the force. "Ow…" He groaned and rubbed the back of his head. "If I drew a line for every time you hit me I'll have a novel-sized book by the time we grow up."

"Serves you right," she shot back. "I didn't mean just the Goukakyuu. Here –" She unclipped a small scroll from her vest and handed it to the two boys. "Just because we're on a mission doesn't mean I don't study."

Obito gave her a dubious look but quickly ducked behind Kakashi when Midori threw him a glare.

Kakashi read through the list of techniques, their descriptions and hand seals. "There's one I don't know."

"Which one?" Obito asked, looking over his shoulder at the contents of the scroll. "I've never heard of most of them."

" _Doton Shinjyuu-zanshu_. _"_

Obito cracked his neck and sighed heavily. There was no mistaking a new tone of interest in Kakashi's voice. "There goes my fantasy of soaking in a nice hot bath and taking an afternoon nap."

"You sound like an old geezer," Midori said. "Let's go."

The first training field they reached was occupied by a Genin team. As soon as the three came into sight, the team paused. Though he wasn't personally acquainted with them, Kakashi recognized the teacher, Akira, and the black haired boy with thick brows. He was taller and leaner than last he had seen him years ago. A Konoha hitai-ate was tied around his obnoxiously bright green spandex.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to intrude," Midori said when the three Genin continued to stare at them. Snapping out of it, two of them looked away but the one Kakashi least wanted to associate with crept toward him until his nose was practically touching his vest.

"Gai?" Akira called. The boy slowly placed his finger on the green vest and then screamed. Midori and Obito both jumped.

"Sensei!" Gai shouted, bounding back to his teacher. "Those are Chuunin vests!"

"I'm aware of that. What's wrong with you?"

"But we're the same age! I remember them from the Academy!"

"Then you should remember they graduated years ago." He sighed and walked over to the baffled three. "You must be Minato's team. Sorry for Gai's outburst –"

"Which one of you is it?" Gai shouted. "I heard one of our classmates became the youngest Chuunin in history. Is it you, Uchiha?"

Obito shook his head. Gai spun toward Midori who raised her hands in wide-eyed denial, as if to physically ward him off too.

"It's Hatake Kakashi," Ebisu said, a disapproving frown on his face. "The White Fang's son."

Kakashi glanced at the two other team members and vaguely remembered their faces. Then his field of vision was filled with large, ferocious eyes and he took a step back from the prominent bottom lashes Gai turned on him.

"Hatake Kakashi! From this day on, you are Maito Gai's Eternal Rival!"

Gai flashed a thumbs-up and a wide, toothy grin. Akira sighed and dropped his face into a hand. Everyone else stared in disbelief.

"Are you an idiot?" Genma said. "Kakashi's a genius. You can barely get the Henge right."

"But I can run a thousand laps around the field! Two thousand finger push-ups and three thousand…"

"You'd better go, this could take a while," Akira muttered to the three Chuunin.

They nodded and headed quietly for the trees, but before they could take two leaps, Gai cut across them and blocked the way.

"Fight me, Kakashi!" he shouted, throwing a handful of shuriken. In an instant all three Chuunin had a kunai in their hands, their bodies tense and already in motion to shoot down the weapons. But the shuriken flew in wild, uncontrolled trajectories that breezed by feet away from them.

"Huh?" Midori and Obito blinked, but weren't given a chance to further voice their bewilderment as Gai charged with the surprising speed he had used to overtake them a moment ago. Kakashi jumped back from a swinging fist and raised an arm to block a follow-through snap kick. The weight behind it surprised him and so did Gai's ability to counter his next few strikes.

Akira watched them exchange blows for a moment before his eyes slid over to the other two and narrowed. The moment Gai had thrown those shuriken, the three had changed. They had reacted instinctively to danger and were ready to kill. As young as they were, there was no denying they were fully fledged soldiers. No matter how strong Gai was in hand-to-hand combat, he had yet to experience what they faced every day.

Kakashi feinted right then kicked Gai's legs from under him, pushed off the ground with a burst of chakra and threw a knee into his jaw. Gai arched back to flip over his hands, but Kakashi's heel came down on his chest with enough force to send him into the ground and flying back up from the rebound. He landed on his face and gasped for air as he raised himself onto his elbows, only to find the tip of a kunai inches from his right eye.

"You're good at taijutsu, I'll give you that," Kakashi said. "But your shuriken skills are as bad as ever."

Before Gai could come up with a retort, or even a nice-guy pose, Kakashi leapt away and his teammates followed.

"Looks like you got yourself a nice rival, Kakashi," Obito said with an amused grin. They slowed their pace to a walk as they reached the trees.

"I don't need one. You can have him."

"I'm not the competitive type. That's Midori's specialty."

"Not true," Midori said.

Both boys stopped and stared at her. "Did you hear what I heard?" Obito asked in a whisper. Kakashi nodded.

Midori narrowed her eyes. "What are you getting at Obito?"

The Uchiha opened his mouth and then promptly shut it again. "Nothing. I don't want another line in my future novel – _ow_!" His hands flew to the new bruise on his forehead. "Why always me? Why don't you ever hit Kakashi?"

"It's the way you say it," Midori growled.

As they turned a bend in the forest path, they heard the chatter and squeals of young children and soon saw a group of Academy students walking their way. Smiling and laughing in the midst of them was a slender kunoichi with bright red hair tied in a high ponytail.

"Kushina-san," Midori greeted happily.

Kushina looked up and grinned broadly "Welcome home you three!" She waded through the group of children and pulled Midori, Kakashi and Obito into a tight hug. Midori laughed and hugged her back while Obito smiled awkwardly and Kakashi stood stock still, looking downright distressed.

"When did you get back?" Kushina asked, pulling back, much to Kakashi's relief.

"Just now," Midori replied.

"Kushina-sensei? Who are they?" The Academy children clustered rowdily around Kushina's legs, each asking a different question, looking between the three Chuunin and their teacher with wide, curious eyes. They were still young, but Kakashi noted the size of the class was much smaller than he remembered from his time in the Academy. Rin's words came back to him.

"Be polite, they're your sempai," Kushina told the children. She answered several more questions about ranks, forehead protectors and weapons before setting the children off on a short obstacle course in the clearing where she could keep watch over them while talking to her husband's students.

"I didn't know you were teaching at the Academy," Obito said.

Kushina sighed. "All the teachers are on active duty. We're taking turns substituting between missions, but most of us are only around for a few days at most. I was just showing them the training grounds."

"Lucky kids," Midori said with a grin. "I would have loved being taught by you, Kushina-san. Especially your sealing techniques."

Kushina chuckled. "I'll be happy to teach you the next time we're off. How was the western border?"

"The usual," Obito replied. "Mostly ambushes by Rock ninjas, though we saw a group of Clouds once."

"Things felt less coordinated than the last time we were there," Kakashi added. "Is something happening at the other borders?"

Kushina looked thoughtful. "There's been frequent clashes on the northern border with the Clouds. I was up there myself a few days ago. If the Rocks seem distracted as you say, they may be planning something with the Clouds." Her expression darkened and she sighed heavily. "There just doesn't seem to be end in sight."

A heavy air descended on the group, the very same that hovered almost constantly over the villagers during the past few years. Midori dropped her eyes, for once struggling to come up with a positive remark.

"Even so," Kakashi said quietly, "we have to fight."

Kushina looked surprised and sadness flitted across her expression for a second before she smiled ruefully. "I'm sorry, it won't do for us adults to get depressed will it? Did you come here to train? Minato was feeling guilty that he couldn't spend more time with you."

"Midori's trying to learn the Goukakyuu," Obito said. "Sensei's already given her all the advice he can for four – " He doubled over with a hoarse gasp and suffered Midori's blow to his stomach in quivering silence.

Kushina, by now immune to the way Midori treated Obito, barely batted an eye at the violence and instead tipped her head in confusion. "A katon technique? But why? You've already made a name for yourself as Kaze no Hime."

"The wind…princess?" Obito wheezed with an incredulous look on his face. " _Princess?_ "

Midori was too surprised to even retaliate. She stared at Kushina, who smiled and continued. "I heard several Chuunin talking about you. Minato said he's heard the rumors too."

"I know about Kaze no Hime!" One of the Academy boys came running over with a broad grin. "My brother said he's never seen such a strong girl!"

"My sister said you sent a drunk merchant flying over the Konoha wall!" another girl giggled. Before they knew it, all the children had gathered back around.

"That sounds more like it," Obito muttered quietly to Kakashi. "Princess my ass. 'Demon' fits better."

"You're just asking to get hit you know that?" Kakashi said with a sigh. He ignored the Uchiha's responding growl.

Kushina placed a hand on Midori's hair, smiling at the bewildered girl surrounded by children reciting her growing reputation. "See? There's no need to force yourself to use other elements just because your teammates can. You are your own kunoichi and everybody recognizes that you're second to none in your team. Isn't that right?"

Obito gave a humph and locked his hands behind his head. "Of course. I don't trust my back to just about anyone."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "We already have one fire idiot. Our teamwork depends on your wind techniques."

"Kakashi!" Obito objected. "What do you mean by fire idiot?!"

"Am I wrong?"

Midori burst out laughing, which stopped Obito from wrapping his arm around Kakashi in a choke hold. Still chuckling, she turned to Kushina. "Thank you Kushina-san. You too, kids. I promise I won't let you down."

Kushina nodded. "I know you won't."

The three Chuunin soon parted with the Academy group and headed further into the training grounds.

Obito glanced at Midori and asked, "Does this mean I don't need to teach you the Goukakyuu anymore?"

"Of course not."

"Huh? But you were just saying…"

"That was that. This is this. Which reminds me." Midori landed a fist squarely in Obito's jaw, sending himself sprawling onto the ground. "That's for making fun of my princess reputation."

"I wasn't…" Obito groaned into the dirt.

"That book's going to be a best seller," Kakashi sighed, even as amusement quirked his lips under the mask.

* * *

Author's note: I've re-written Guy's team so it reflects the anime version with Genma and Ebisu. I've also read that Akimichi Chouza is their teacher but Akira makes several more appearances so I'll just leave him there.

.LinSetsu.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine:**

"Team 2 under Namikaze Minato…" the Jounin mumbled, shuffling through loose papers and scrolls on a messy desk. His task was encumbered by bandages wrapped over his right eye and his right arm in a sling. It was likely the only reason a Jounin in his prime was sitting at a desk handing out missions. "Ah, here we go. Kakashi, Obito and Midori, correct?"

"Hai," Midori replied.

The Jounin scanned through the scroll, a frown growing on his face. "It's a B rank mission. You're to retrieve a confidential scroll from a village in Lightning Country and bring it safely to Wind Country."

Obito whistled quietly. "We're infiltrating enemy territory? Why don't they hire their own ninjas?"

"Uemura Village opposes the war."

Kakashi, Obito and Midori turned to see the Hokage emerging from a door on the other side of the room. Hiruzen smiled in greeting and walked over to the desk where the Jounin handed him the scroll. With a brief glance at it, he continued. "As such, it is under strict surveillance by the Hidden Cloud Village."

"Meaning, the scroll is by no means just a friendly greeting card?" Midori surmised.

The Hokage nodded. "The client is an old acquaintance of mine. His name is Amano Masanori, a former provincial lord. He recently passed the position down to his son and retired to his hometown in the countryside."

"A retired old man involved in an underground anti-war movement?" Obito asked with a shade of skepticism.

Hiruzen chuckled. "No doubt something along those lines. But retired or not, Amano still holds influence over the Lightning daimyo. Whatever the scroll contains, it is crucial we deliver it."

"Where are these two villages?" Kakashi asked. The Jounin pulled out a scroll containing a large map and the three stepped closer. Uemura was located in the northeast of Lightning Country and their destination was in the northern region of Wind Country.

"Amano expects you by sundown in two days," the Hokage said.

Obito grimaced. Infiltrating enemy lands was hard enough without a time limit, not to mention their route to Wind Country would skirt the conflict-ridden northern border as well as Earth Country.

"Is Minato-sensei coming with us?" Midori asked.

The Third shook his head. "He left late last night on an emergency mission. I wish we could have waited for his return but there's no time. Your team is most suited for this mission. Use your youthful appearances to your advantage. Avoid any battles. Hurry."

The three nodded and left with the scroll that would identify them to their client.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi, Obito and Midori left the administration building at a light jog, quickly discussing what equipment to bring.

"Hitai-ate," Obito said.

"Concealed," Midori responded. "Minimal weapons. No pouches."

"No vests," Kakashi added. "Rations. Soldiers pills."

Obito made a gagging noise but went on. "Civilian clothes. Dark shades. Medical kit?"

Kakashi hesitated.

"I've got a miniature set that Rin gave me," Midori said.

Kakashi nodded. "We'll meet at the North gate in fifteen minutes."

The three split up. Kakashi pulled off his forehead protector as he entered his apartment and dropped it into the small nondescript bag he used for missions. He unstrapped the weapons pouch and unrolled the bandages around his lower legs before changing into navy shorts and pulling on a long-sleeved innerwear and a loose t-shirt. He strapped a kunai against both his upper arms, concealed beneath the t-shirt and, rolling up the innerwear sleeve, wrapped a length of wire around his forearms. Two shuriken were slipped into a thin compartment sliced on the bottom of his shoes. He left the vest lying on his bed and filled his bag with rations, pills, a water canteen and the scroll the Third had given them.

After a quick mental check, Kakashi left the apartment and headed for the North gates. As he was crossing the residential district over the roofs, he caught sight of Midori waving him down and joined her on the streets. She wore shorts that just covered her knees, and a black and brown shirt. Her hair was gathered in a loose ponytail that bumped against the back of her neck as they jogged on.

They turned a corner and ran into Obito emerging from the Uchiha district. He was wearing dark grey trousers, a black t-shirt and a backwards cap on his head.

"If you say a word about my goggles, I'm going to demand Kakashi take off his mask too," Obito said when Midori's eyes lingered on his trademark fashion.

She just shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "I've given up on those goggles and mask a long time ago."

The guards at the gate laughed and teased them as they passed through but saw them off with wishes of good luck.

The three Chuunin leapt up into the trees and set a hard pace. Yet, they hadn't gone thirty minutes when Kakashi felt a faint disturbance in the air and stretched his senses to observe their surroundings. There was no mistake, they were being followed.

"Two… No, three." Obito muttered quietly.

"Somebody's been slacking at border patrol," Midori grumbled. "What should we do?"

Kakashi fell silent without dropping their pace. They had no time to lose but their mission couldn't risk being followed either. "You two keep going. I'll – "

He ducked out of reflex, catching sight of something long and pale streaking over his head from the corner of his eyes. A chill ran down his spine as he realized there was someone up ahead – and he hadn't noticed. Without needing to voice the warning, Obito and Midori stopped abruptly on the next branch even as they heard a shriek ring out from behind them.

"So many rats these days."

They looked up to see a Jounin land on a branch front of them. Contrary to his words, his pale face broke out into a thin smile brimming with amusement. The shadows of several other shinobi flew past them to engage the enemy.

"Orochimaru-sama," Obito greeted, the surprise clear in his voice. No wonder they hadn't felt his presence.

The Sannin looked over the three with interest, a thin kuchiyose snake sliding leisurely across his shoulders. His smile widened, thinning his eyes. "Go along children. We'll take care of this."

They bowed quickly and continued on their way but Kakashi couldn't shake the uneasy feeling of being watched by those predatory eyes.

"Sannin or not, Orochimaru-sama gives me the creeps," Midori said quietly, long after they were out of earshot. "He's nothing like Jiraiya-sama."

"Am I the only one who thinks those snakes were a close call?" Obito added. Kakashi shook his head. If they hadn't ducked in time, they would have been prey to those snakes' venom. Had Orochimaru been testing them? He pushed the thought away.

"We don't have time," he said. "Let's hurry."

The afternoon turned dark and an autumn rain dulled the bright forest leaves into a world of monochrome grey. By sunset, the three were thoroughly drenched but decided to push on through the cover of night. Luckily, the rain ceased near midnight and a thin crescent moon shone through breaks in the heavy clouds, lighting their way. Temperatures dropped, condensing their breaths into faint white fog and doing little to dry the damp clothes against their skin. But their movements kept them warm and none of them thought to voice their discomfort.

The trees began to thin during the early hours of the morning and the three dropped down to the forest floor, running until they could hear the faint sounds of waves crashing against the shore. They slowed their pace and evened their breaths.

There hadn't been enough time to send a message to the border patrol so they couldn't rely on finding back-up. They were already on the verge of crossing the border into no-man's land between the two great countries where enemies could be lurking behind every shadow.

They slowed to a walk, silencing their footsteps and concealing their presence. The wind shifted, bringing the scent of saltwater, wet leaves and another familiar odor to Kakashi's nose. He immediately raised a hand and they stopped where they were, sheltered beneath a twisted tree.

"It smells of blood," he breathed. That in itself wasn't unusual. "It's still new."

Something snapped high overhead and the three jumped back as a shadow crashed into the ground where they had stood. Kakashi crouched low to the ground with his hand gripped around the kunai strapped to his arm but the stench of blood was overwhelming. He slowly straightened and approached the dark mass. It wasn't moving. He couldn't feel anything from it.

"He's dead," Obito confirmed, crouching in front of the body that was nearly ripped in half. Midori covered her mouth with a look of disgust. It no longer had face. They could just barely recognize the uniform as belonging to a Cloud ninja.

Obito got to his feet and their eyes met in silent agreement. There was no point lingering. But they froze again, this time as a group of shadowed figures dropped down and encircled them. Obito cursed softly under his breath as the three of them put their backs to each other. There still wasn't enough light to make out who they were beneath the shadows of the trees but their hostility was tangible.

"Wait." One of the shinobi stepped forward. "Hatake, is that you?"

Kakashi turned to face the man and could faintly make out the abstract designs on a white mask. "Konoha ANBU," he muttered in surprise.

"They're from the Village," the ANBU said. One by one, the others relaxed and though a high-strung tension was still thick in the air, the hostility was tempered. The ANBU pulled up the animal mask and revealed a man in his mid-twenties.

Kakashi searched his memory for a name. "Shiranui Renji." He had been an examiner during the Chuunin exams four years ago.

"Long time no see."

"Did you do this?" Kakashi asked, nodding to the dead body.

Renji's face turned hard. "No. We were just heading back when we heard the noise."

That meant there were still others nearby. As if to affirm the revelation, a crack of lightning split the dark morning air not far from where they stood and a gust of dirt smoke raked across the forest floor. A shinobi burst out of the trees, immediately followed by half a dozen more. The ANBU were already moving to engage them and the air was instantly filled with the chaotic clash of weapons and the roar of elemental attacks.

"Go!" Renji shouted to the three.

Obito and Midori leapt in the opposite direction toward the sea but Kakashi lingered for a second, feeling something amiss. The Clouds were caught off guard. Something was distracting them. This wasn't an ambush. His eyes darted left and right and finally caught the disturbance. A Cloud ninja, while dodging an ANBU's attack, threw a burst of lightning at a fellow Cloud. It grazed the targeted shinobi, who faltered but retaliated with a handful of explosive talismans.

"Kakashi!" Obito shouted.

Kakashi turned and leapt away. Within seconds they were clear of the trees and bushes, stumbling out onto a barren clifftop with nowhere to hide. The greying skies only revealed gentle, rolling hills in the distance.

"Down the cliff," Kakashi said. If they could make it over the edge without being seen they could conceal themselves against the rocks until the battle died down.

They were almost there when the ground split open with a blinding flash of lightning. The three Chuunin jumped out of harm's way, raising their arms against the powerful blast. Squinting against the light, Kakashi recognized the Cloud shinobi who staggered out of the attack. It was the one being chased. The Cloud sent a bolt of lightning back to his attacker, then turned and limped toward them through the cloud of dust. If he saw them, he gave no sign of it. He was making a strange noise halfway between a sob and a laugh.

It wasn't a second later that the dust was blown violently away and the air was oppressed by the splintering images of several electric wolves. The Cloud twisted around to counter the attack with a wall of mud, successfully stopping it for a moment before the precarious clifftop finally gave way and crumbled beneath their feet. With a mix of frustration, irritation and confusion, Kakashi scrambled to find purchase on the loose cliff wall, faintly aware of Obito and Midori close by. He risked a quick glance up in time to see one of the wolf shaped attacks snapping its teeth around the Cloud's body and tearing off his left arm.

As the edge of the clifftop plummeted from view, the attacker hurried forward to confirm the death of his target. He dragged his injured body, cursing the Leafs for their untimely appearance. Reaching the far end of land, he peered down into the foaming waves. It was the last he saw as Renji landed silently behind him, running his blade through the Cloud's neck and pinning him to the ground until his body stopped twitching.

Renji leaned over the edge of the cliff but found no sign of the three Chuunin. He called out Hatake's name, listening to his voice being swallowed by the sound of the waves. Then in the growing light of dawn, he saw a small figure emerge out of nowhere halfway down the cliff. The silver haired boy gave a quick wave and Renji breathed a sigh of relief. Lifting his own hand in response, Renji drew back and sheathed his sword before meeting up with the rest of the ANBU squad to discuss what to do with the Clouds they had killed or sent fleeing.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi withdrew back into the cave they had discovered by chance during their fall. Whether natural or manmade, it had long been abandoned, but it was dry and hidden from view. He turned to his teammates and suppressed the urge to sigh in exasperation.

"Why did you save him?" he asked.

Obito was looking uncomfortably down at the injured Cloud shinobi, who lay unconscious on the cave floor. "I don't know, I just did…"

* * *

When you read your old story and realize this mission had next to zero meaning in the original version... Hope this makes it more interesting. If not, let me know and I'll go hang myself somewhere. I'm kidding.

.LinSetsu.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten:**

"He was being attacked by his own Village," Obito reasoned. "He could be on our side."

"Then he would have said something to stop the ANBU from trying to kill him," Kakashi replied.

"Either way, we'll never find out if he bleeds to death," Midori huffed, opening her bag and taking out several rolls of bandages and what meager medical supplies she had brought. She looked over the Cloud's condition and immediately wished Rin were here. He was burned along his body and legs and she didn't know if he would survive with the amount of blood pooling out from what was left of his severed upper arm.

"Wait," Kakashi said. He unrolled the wires from his forearm and tied the Cloud's remaining arm tightly to his side and immobilized his legs. Then he knelt warily by the enemy's head with a kunai in hand while Obito and Midori secured a make-shift tourniquet around his stump.

As the sun cleared the horizon and filled the cave with light, Kakashi noted the Cloud was still young, perhaps only a few years older than they were. He was short and lean with unruly brown hair flecked with blood and grime. Though the paleness of his face was likely due to blood loss, his sunken cheeks and the dark bags under his eyes deepened Kakashi's suspicion that he was a hunted prey on the run. But the possibility did little to earn his sympathy, especially if the dead Cloud they had found in the forest had been killed by this youth. The mutilated body had reeked of malice and brutality.

The Cloud stirred and groaned in pain just as Obito finished tightening the knot.

Midori lifted his head and tapped her hand lightly against his cheek. "Are you awake? Swallow these." She pushed two pills – a pain killer and a blood replenishing pill – into his mouth and chased them down with a trickle of water. She watched him swallow and then lowered him back onto the floor.

The emergency field medications were quick to take effect and within minutes the Cloud was fully conscious, even if his eyes were still dulled with pain. Slowly, they roamed across the roof of the cave and then looked from one face to another.

"Can you speak?" Kakashi said. "State your name and hidden village."

The Cloud focused his eyes on Kakashi and then on the kunai poised against his throat. After a moment, his lips parted, but instead of forming words, they stretched into a wide grin. An eerie light filled his eyes.

"…going to kill me?" he rasped. A weak laugh shook his shoulders. "Go on… kill me. Do a better job than that… bastard up there!"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Why are you being hunted?"

The Cloud bared his teeth. "Because I killed them all. Everyone member of that fucking team. Serves them right. Serves them right for ruining my life – for dragging me to the bottom of hell and making a monster out of me!"

A rogue ninja and a comrade killer. No wonder he was being hunted. "What were you doing on the border of Fire Country?"

"Fire Country?" The revelation appeared to surprise him for a second, and then he laughed again. "They chased me all the way down to Fire Country and failed to kill me! What useless scums!"

"You want to die?"

"Fuck no. I want to be _killed_. I want my blood on their hands. On _your_ hands! On the hands of all the fucking shinobi in this rotten world!"

"Why?" Midori asked, a frown tugging her brows at the Cloud's hysterical behavior. "What did they do to you to make you hate them so much?"

"What does it matter," Kakashi interrupted. The only thing he needed to know was whether this shinobi was going to be a threat to his team or their mission. If so, he had no qualms about giving the Cloud what he claimed he wanted, whether it was the truth or not.

"Let's listen to what he has to say first," Obito said quietly.

Kakashi sighed and shrugged, but didn't take the kunai away from the Cloud's throat.

"Why do you hate your Village so much?" Midori asked again.

The injured youth laughed, the sound somewhere between a bark and a wheezing cough. "Why. _Why_? Because they made me a ninja that's why! You're one of 'em too aren't you? Tell me, are you happy? Are you _grateful_ to be making a living killing people? Are you happy being an obedient little soldier fighting for the old geezers who only see you as statistics on a piece of paper? Well?!"

"Our leader isn't like that," Midori replied. "I'm sorry yours was."

"I'm not talking about the Kages… though they're equally as rotten," he spat. "I'm talking about the daimyos and lords and merchants and all the fuckers who have something to gain by ordering us to go to war. And what about us? What do we have to gain? Not a fucking thing. We're losing everything… everything…! I'll be damned if I let them take anything else from me…"

The three listened in silence as the Cloud's words faded into a whisper. He clenched his eyes closed. The muscles in his hollow cheeks shook with the strength of his jaws clamped together, holding back the tears that welled in the corners of his eyes.

"That's enough," Kakashi said. They couldn't waste any more time listening to the woes of a broken shinobi. And broken or not, he had no intention of letting this Cloud jeopardize their undercover mission. Kakashi tightened his grip on the kunai and tipped the edge of the blade against the youth's artery until it broke skin.

The smell of blood and mercy rose unbidden from his memories. He had seen this before, in another time, in another place – a shinobi who had sought death to escape struggle. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and breathed, "Rest easy."

"Kakashi wait – " Obito stopped, but before he could say anything more, the Cloud cried out.

"Please! Don't kill me!"

Kakashi's hand stopped, stayed by both voices. He glared down at the Cloud but froze at the fear-stricken expression he found. The maniac grin was gone, as was the strange light in his eyes. They were opened wide, wet with tears, and his lips quivered with every shallow breath.

"Please," he whispered. "I don't want to die."

"That's not what you were saying a moment ago," Kakashi said.

"I don't know… I don't know, I blank out sometimes. Please, let me go. I won't hurt you."

The three Chuunin exchanged looks.

"What's your name?" Obito asked.

"Iku. I'm being hunted by the Clouds."

"You _are_ a Cloud," Kakashi said.

"I'm a runaway. I… I killed my team a month ago. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" His eyes were wide, seeing something other than the three Chuunin. His voice cracked, but he rambled on, like a broken dam of incoherence. "I had to kill him. He took me away from my parents. He murdered them – his own sister! – so I had nowhere to return to. Ten years. Ten years and I finally had the chance! The look on his face!" He almost laughed but choked on his own spit and coughed harshly.

The heaves turned into sobs. "Not the others. I never meant to harm the others! I swear! They were like me. We were orphans, we grew up together – forced to become shinobi. We hated it!" His voice turned to grief. "Why did they attack? Why did they look so sad? Why… I don't remember… I don't remember! I – _he_ – killed them. It wasn't me!"

"He?" Obito asked.

Iku only shook his head, crying. He sniffed loudly, his body trembling in fear, pain or something else entirely. "I'm sorry. I don't remember. I'm so, _so_ sorry… I just… I didn't want to die..."

Midori looked at her teammates, bewildered. "What do we do?"

"It's an act or he's plain crazy," Kakashi said. "We don't have time for this."

Obito shook his head. "I think he has a split personality. I read about it once. It's caused by physical trauma during childhood. Their multiple identities are a coping mechanism."

"It's the other me," Iku said, his words hushed but clear. "He's been there for years. They tried to beat him out of me. It didn't' work. I can't control him. I don't even remember what he does. Please, believe me."

"The man you killed," Midori said. "You said he killed his own sister. Was he your uncle?"

Iku nodded. "My mother came from a shinobi family, but she fell in love with my father, who was a civilian, so she left the Hidden Cloud Village." The change in topic seemed to calm Iku and he spoke quietly with a distant, pained look in his eyes. "We lived far away in the countryside. We were happy. But that all ended when Goro tracked us down ten years ago. My mother refused to return and wouldn't let him take me either. So he killed her and my father, telling me it had been an accident. It's ironic, only when I became a shinobi myself did I realize my mother wouldn't have died in a simple accident. But at the time, I had nowhere else to go. I went with Goro and became the one thing I hated most. If only my mother hadn't been born a shinobi, she would have been alive. We would have been happy. If only ninjas didn't exist… If only I…"

He froze and squeezed his eyes shut. "If only I didn't exist…"

"So we'll take them down with us." Iku's lips peeled back in a ruthless grin. His voice was soft with malice. "Every last one of them fuckers."

The alter ego was back and Kakashi wasn't interested in hearing his foul-mouthed ramblings again. Before Obito or Midori could say anything, his fingers flew through a set of seals and he slapped a hand over Iku's eyes, activating a hypnosis genjutsu. The Cloud stiffened and then his body went slack as his mind was plunged into unconsciousness.

"Kakashi," Obito reprimanded.

"The conversation wasn't going anywhere. He's a risk to himself and both our countries – much less our mission. Don't tell me you couldn't figure that out."

"I know he's a risk, but…" Obito rolled a stray piece of stone distractedly between his fingers, looking at Kakashi with a rueful expression. Kakashi knew that look and didn't like it at all. "I don't want to get you mad but… any chance we can spare him?"

"No."

"Kakashi…"

"No."

"Just so you know, I won't let you kill him."

"Obito…" Kakashi growled.

Midori shook her head at the familiar stalemate between her teammates and looked at Iku. She thought back to what they had just heard and tipped her head in wonder. "Maybe Konoha's just special but I don't know of anyone who hates being a shinobi."

"Yeah you do," Obito said, surprising Midori. "Asuka."

"Your cousin Asuka? Really?"

Obito nodded. "It's not that I support what Iku did, but I can sympathize with how he feels. The Uchiha Clan doesn't give its children much choice either whether they want to become a ninja or not. Those who refuse are persecuted and shunned. Those who don't show talent are looked down on. It's not Asuka's fault that he was born an Uchiha, but it's the Uchiha's fault that he turned out the way he did. Believe it or not, he wasn't always like that. Asuka and this guy are both just victims of the shinobi world. I can't help but think, if this were Asuka…"

"If this were Asuka, would you forgive him for killing your own clan members?" Kakashi asked, his voice hard.

Obito opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He fell silent, his eyes dropping to the ground, dark with conflict. For a long moment, the only sounds filling the cave were the shallow breaths of the wounded ninja and the waves breaking against the bottom of the cliff.

When Obito looked up again, his face was still troubled and he shook his head helplessly. "I don't know," he said truthfully. Yet, even undecided, his eyes never wavered as they fixed on Kakashi. "I'm just asking you to have mercy this one time."

Kakashi glared, not at all in agreement. But he knew Obito's stubbornness matched, or even exceeded Midori's, and any sort of dissent in the team would become an even greater threat to their mission than a wounded lunatic.

"Fine," he said, then turned to Midori. "You okay with the decision?"

She nodded. "Killing him would make us no better than the Clouds."

Kakashi didn't think so, but he shrugged.

Obito smiled in relief. "Thanks Kakashi."

With the immediate problem more or less solved, the three focused on other matters at hand. From their position, they couldn't make out whether the battle had already ended above, but decided it was as good a time as ever to make a brief rest while laying low.

Although Kakashi was confident his illusion would last at least six hours, he and Obito decided to take turns keeping watch.

"I'll take a turn too," Midori said.

Kakashi shook his head. "I don't want to stay for more than a few hours."

"I thought girls needed their beauty sleep," Obito added with a grin. "Unless tomboys don't count."

Kakashi barely had enough time to stop Midori from throwing them all out of the cave with a Kaze Kamaitachi.

.-.-.-.

The midmorning sun filled the cave with warmth.

Kakashi sat near the opening, listening to the waves and seagulls flying high overhead as he chewed on a rations bar. Obito, having taken the first watch, was sleeping at the far end of the cave with Midori. It was nearing three hours since they had fallen down the cliff and there was no indication of disturbances above.

The Cloud lay, still unconscious, at Kakashi's feet. His breathing was shallow but steady and the bleeding from his severed arm had stopped.

Kakashi thought back to Obito's words about Asuka and the Uchiha Clan. He had barely spent a year with Asuka and had never taken enough interest in him to try to get to know him any better. But he remembered the dark, sullen looks that perpetually darkened the boy's face. At the time, he had thought it was simply resentment toward the other students who laughed at him and constantly compared him to Obito.

Yet, if what Obito said was true, it was possible the resentment extended to the entire structure of the shinobi world – a world which couldn't be called fair or normal by a long shot. One of the many consequences of its aberrance was the freedom of choice granted to most children of the Academy, yet not to those who came from prestigious and conservative clans.

There was no doubt that the life of a shinobi was harsh and cruel – even more so to those who did not choose to embrace and endure it of their own free will. Kakashi had never given it much thought or ever questioned the decision to follow in his father's footsteps. It was a given. What some perceived as the absurdity and unjustness of his world was as natural to him as the act of breathing. So he had never really understood what Asuka had been trying to say the day Kakashi had graduated from the Academy.

(Flashback)

Three weeks after his father's suicide, Kakashi was sitting on a bench behind the Academy, having already finished his exam. With a ninjutsu scroll lying across his lap, he waited for the other classes to complete the test.

He could hear students in the distance, chattering excitedly or groaning in defeat. Beside him, sitting in sullen silence was Asuka. Why the other boy had joined him an hour earlier was a mystery but it wasn't the first time during his year at the Academy and Kakashi didn't give it much thought.

"Don't you hate the shinobi who drove your father to suicide?" Asuka suddenly asked.

Kakashi looked up from the scroll, swallowing both the surprise at hearing such a question and the prick of pain his father's death still caused him well before the emotions could leak into his expression.

"My father died because he was weak," Kakashi said. "That's all there is to it."

Asuka scowled. "He died because people like the Uchiha called him a disgrace for saving lives. Where's the fairness in that?"

"Even if he saved lives, he failed the mission. The people had the right to call him anything they wanted to. That's the way things work."

"You don't think that's messed up? Aren't you angry?"

Kakashi thought about the past few weeks – the tangle of emotions that had clogged his chest and the barren emptiness that was slowly but surely swallowing everything inside him. The pain, loneliness, confusion, hurt – it was all becoming the past. Anger had never surfaced anywhere.

"No," he replied.

Asuka huffed derisively. "It must feel awfully good being a genius. Even if your father's despised by the whole Village, you still get the special treatment. Everyone loves you. Everyone acknowledges you."

Kakashi wasn't one to get riled by Asuka's caustic tongue but he understood why some in their class would. He simply shrugged and stood up. "If you want to be acknowledged, all you have to do is grow stronger."

"Easy for you to say."

Kakashi didn't think so. Drop-out or not, Asuka was an Uchiha, a warrior clan with some of the most powerful genes in the world. With enough effort, it would surely make up for a large portion of whatever ability he was lacking. But Kakashi wasn't a counsellor and neither was he interested in continuing the conversation so he turned his back and walked away.

"Hey, I've been thinking, if I become the Hokage, do you think everyone will acknowledge me?" Asuka asked quietly.

Kakashi paused and glanced back over his shoulder. Becoming the Hokage was many children's dreams, but he never knew Asuka was one of them. Though it struck him as unexpected and somewhat unlikely, he shrugged. "I don't know about everyone, but I suppose I would."

Asuka stared at Kakashi with a look of surprise. His frown eased and a rare smile tugged at his lips. "I guess that's good enough for now."

(End Flashback)

Kakashi had never understood why Asuka had been so angry over the circumstances leading to the White Fang's death. Neither did he know what had become of his dream four years down the road. He looked down at the Cloud and wondered if anyone who resented the shinobi world could become one of its leaders.

With a sigh, Kakashi shook the thoughts from his mind and stood up, pulling his mask back into place. He went to where his teammates were resting and shook Obito awake. "I'm going to go check the situation above," he said. Obito squinted through bleary eyes but nodded clearly. Kakashi motioned to Iku and added, "Keep an eye on him."

Climbing quickly but carefully, Kakashi scaled the cliff wall and stretched his senses to check the surroundings. He didn't feel anything unusual so he peered over the edge and pulled himself onto flat ground. The earth was dug up and scorched in places but there were no bodies – only several dark stains and the faint scent of dried blood. Kakashi checked the nearby forests to be sure but found nothing. Both the Konoha and Cloud shinobi were long gone.

Satisfied, Kakashi made his way back down, letting gravity carry him halfway and swinging his body into the cave within seconds. Midori was just beginning to stir, being poked and prodded by Obito, who sat with a rations bar in his mouth.

"I'm up, I'm up," Midori groaned, sitting up and shielding her eyes from the bright light.

"Sleepyhead," Obito chuckled. "Imagine the sort of commander you'll make one day."

"Shut… up…" she yawned. Then she caught sight of Kakashi and asked, "How was it?"

"Quiet," Kakashi replied, his eyes on the Cloud. "I'm going to take him up there and hide him in the trees. Then we'll head out."

Obito looked up and held Kakashi's eyes for a long moment.

Midori looked between the two, apprehension clouding her face at the strange tension that pervaded the cave. "Kakashi you –"

Obito cut her off. "Sure thing," he said, a confident grin on his face. "We'll be ready."

Kakashi regarded his teammate for a moment longer and then nodded. Slinging Iku's remaining arm across his shoulders, he gathered chakra to his free hand and feet and climbed back up. All the while, Obito's face lingered in his mind, even as he heaved himself and Iku onto the clifftop, even as he looked for patches of thick foliage just inside the forest, even as he tied the Cloud to a thick tree and renewed the illusion to keep him sleeping for another six hours.

The possibility had been on all of three of their minds. He had known they wouldn't demand to accompany him. Their trust in each other was stronger than that, or they wouldn't have survived for so long in the war. Midori may have sought reassurance. But Obito's irrational confidence in Kakashi was unnerving – and for a long moment, as he stared down at the unconscious enemy with his kunai in hand, he wondered if it had wrongly entrusted.

Every fiber of his being and every shred of training told him to kill the Cloud. It wasn't even about threats or risks – this shinobi was an enemy and, hunted or not, he had attacked Konoha forces with every intention of taking them down.

Kakashi brought his weapon to Iku's neck, poised once again over his carotid artery. He knew, even without conscious thought, the exact depth, angle and force that needed to be applied to end a life. He couldn't count the number of times he had delivered the final stroke over the past years. But something held him back.

 _Have mercy._

Kakashi bit his lip and pulled back. Abruptly turning away from the Cloud, he secured the weapon back under his sleeve and leapt away without ever looking back.

He returned to the cave to find Midori and Obito bickering as usual, but the words barely took on meaning in his mind. He just stood there, lost for words, still reeling from something he couldn't even quite grasp.

After a while, he finally realized it was gratitude.

"Look, Kakashi's back already. If you had just stopped complaining we would have been ready by now," Obito was saying, ducking under the bag Midori swung at his face.

"We would have been if you hadn't stuffed that rations bar into my mouth when I was yawning!" Midori shot back.

Despite their words, they were both more or less ready and it seemed their squabble had stretched out their sore muscles. Obito and Midori soon joined him at the cave opening and discussed the best route going forward. They quickly agreed that running over the waves would surely tire them, but it would greatly reduce the risk of running into any more Cloud shinobi.

"Obito," Kakashi said just as they were about to depart.

"Yeah?"

"Whatever the Uchiha Clan's done," he said, voicing the thought he had been mulling over that morning, "it's not on you. You don't need to be the one carrying their guilt."

Obito looked at him in surprise. Midori smiled, reassured that whatever fissure caused by this unexpected turn of events was all but gone.

Obito, too, broke into a grin and felt a fraction of the burden ease from his shoulders. Sometimes he didn't even realize he was looking for something until his teammates gave him the very words.

"Thanks Kakashi."

With that, the three resumed their mission.

* * *

.LinSetsu.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven:**

The day grew unusually warm as the sun beat relentlessly from a cloudless sky. The waves glittered in blinding flashes of light as Kakashi, Obito and Midori ran over the sea, moving parallel to the cliffs. They left enough distance to avoid the foaming swirls of waves crashing against the rocks, but were also careful to stay within the shadows of the cliffs to avoid detection from above.

They traveled until long after sunset, measuring time against the glowing eastern sky reflecting the last rays of the sun and then the gradual darkening of dusk's gloom.

The only incident to have marked their strenuous journey was a minor dispute that had broken out between them when it was decided someone had to make a trip up the cliff at regular intervals to confirm their bearings. It had included a reluctant Kakashi, a snickering Obito, an ever so sweet Midori and a volley of Kamaitachi wind blades eventually chasing Kakashi up the cliff face.

The only good that had come from the extra forced labor was the discovery of a coastal town just before total darkness descended over the land. They stopped on a stone beach in a small inlet hidden under a ragged overhang and decided to gather information. This time, Kakashi won out with the logic that Midori looked the most normal out of the three. Laughing, Obito even offered to lend her his cap. With a huff, she secured the cap on her head, jumped up to grab the edge of the overhang and disappeared over it.

Obito stretched out his sore muscles and flopped onto the floor, only too happy to be on solid ground again. "Do you think we can afford to rest tonight?"

"I think so," Kakashi replied, looking out at the black sea. Despite their unstable footing, they had made good progress. If his estimation matched the information Midori brought, they could spare a night's rest.

It wasn't long before she returned with good news. "The villagers say it takes two runners from here to Uemura."

Standard messenger runners travelled in six hour intervals. With all factors considered, the three of them could likely cover the distance in nine hours.

"I say it's decided," Obito said. "It's safer here than trying to find cover closer to the village."

Kakashi agreed. "We'll leave an hour before dawn."

"Thank the gods," Midori breathed, sitting down and rubbing her legs. After a moment, she looked up. "There's also one more thing I heard. The villagers have been seeing frequent shinobi movements in these areas for the past few days. They seem to be travelling away to the west, but it's worth being careful."

"The Hidden Cloud Village should still be north of here," Obito said. "I wonder if they're planning another attack on Konoha."

Kakashi thought it was possible, considering what they had heard from Kushina. "If so, it'll work in our favor." There was nothing like a large battle to help provide cover for stealth missions.

Midori and Obito soon lay down to rest, having decided the beach was isolated enough to rest without fear of being attacked. Kakashi stayed awake for a while longer, checking around the periphery of the small beach and the level of the tide. Climbing onto the overhang, he look up and searched for any path that led down from the clifftop. The thin moonlight only revealed a long, vertical climb with no trace of purchase. Seeing and feeling nothing strange, Kakashi finally dropped back down and joined his teammates on the floor.

.-.-.-.

They reached the outskirts of Uemura Village by mid-afternoon. Though they could glimpse towering mountains in the distance, the landscape near the coast was formed by low hills and fields of grass swaying gently in the wind. They sprinted across the fields, running close to the ground to avoid being seen, but as they neared the village, they noticed a vibrant buzz of activity and excitement. It put them on edge, slowing their pace for a moment before they realized it was a festival.

Cautious and more than a little surprised at the unexpected spectacle, they slipped into the village to find stalls lining the main streets selling food, drinks, toys and trinkets celebrating the harvest. The atmosphere was upbeat and jovial. Children ran from shop to shop wearing festive masks and adults chattered and laughed as they strolled through the streets. At a glance, one would never guess it was a village under military surveillance. Nevertheless, the three Chuunin were quick to pick up the presence of shinobi standing in the shadow of alleys or walking along the edges of the street.

"This is perfect," Midori said quietly. Villagers and shinobi alike paid little attention to the three as they walked carefully down the busy streets.

"Let's split up and gather information," Obito said. Kakashi and Midori nodded and they broke up in different directions.

Kakashi had barely walked a few minutes when he heard Midori call his name. She ran up to him, giggling like any of the other local children and shoved a mask over his face as if it was the most natural thing to do. Though taken aback for a moment, Kakashi couldn't help but be impressed, as always, by Midori's ability to blend into any sort of situation. He tied the strings of the mask behind his head and nodded in appreciation. It would allow him to move around more freely and observe the village without looking suspicious.

He watched Midori disappear into the crowds from the corner of his eyes and then began to wade through the stream of people. He opened his senses to catch snippets of conversations and absorb the emotions that trickled beneath their smiles and lighthearted words. Almost immediately, he realized these villagers were well aware of the shinobi among them. Bitterness and distrust were thinly veiled behind their cheerfulness, which turned out to be nothing less than a middle finger at the Clouds.

The Clouds, for their part, did little to either assuage or antagonize the civilians. Keeping to themselves, they watched the villagers silently, occasionally coming together to exchange a word or two and then dispersing into the crowds again.

Kakashi circled the village once and then turned his attention to the main manor that stood a little distance from the center square. The nondescript household was surrounded by a low wall but took up no more than half a block and both the main entrance and back door were left unguarded. Stranger yet was that there appeared to be less shinobi in the vicinity of the house than the rest of the village. He checked all the adjacent streets and only came across one Cloud heading in the opposite direction.

Without even having to organize a rendezvous, Obito and Midori soon joined Kakashi in the lengthening shadows of a corner just behind the manor and they compared notes, coming up with similar observations.

"They're gearing up for some fireworks near the square," Obito added at the time. "Now's the best time to pick up the scroll and leave while everyone's distracted."

Quickly deciding to do just that, the three checked their surroundings one more time before darting across the street and clearing the outer wall in one bound. They landed silently in the shadows of several robust pine trees and immediately spotted an aged man with a long, white beard dressed in traditional clothes and sprinkling breadcrumbs into a garden pond.

"That's him," Midori whispered, having heard rumors of his famous beard.

Removing the festival masks, the team stepped out of their cover with a rustle and quietly called out to Amano Masanori. The man looked up and nodded, not once appearing confused or suspicious.

As they approached the former lord, Kakashi handed him the scroll from the Third and Amano beckoned them to the polished wooden veranda running along the periphery of the main house. There, he sat down and looked between the three with a tender expression that bordered on guilt.

"Thank you for making the long journey," he said, "and I'm sorry I cannot offer you any comfort."

Amano pulled out another scroll from his kimono sleeve and the wrinkles on his face seemed to deepen with world-weary heaviness as he stared at it in his hand.

"I'm afraid half of this scroll has become obsolete," he said darkly. "This is not your fault by any means, don't get me wrong. I thought I could stop them, but the Rocks have just formed an alliance with the Clouds."

This was news to the three Chuunin.

"When?" Midori asked.

"It was made official this morning, but who knows how long it was secretly in the works."

The teammates shared glances. A formal alliance was far more significant than the occasional coordinated attacks the two Hidden Villages had carried out in the past. They could now understand Amano's burdened look.

"Sanada, my counterpart in Wind Country, will likely extend his influence to the lords in Earth Country. I, too, will do my part to pressure the Lightning Daimyo. Even if it means ending our generations-old status as a provincial lord. It is imperative you deliver this scroll to Sanada as fast as you can. If we cannot stop this alliance, the least we can do is keep it from becoming a unified front."

Kakashi accepted the new scroll and nodded his understanding. Beside him, Obito was regarding the old man with curious eyes.

"Why are you working so hard to stop this war?" he asked. It wasn't for Amano's personal or even provincial benefit. That much was certain. This province, located so far from any of the borders was unlikely to suffer any physical damage and the sea provided sufficient economic stability. Most lords and daimyos eagerly supported their Hidden Villages during wartime, if not out of fear for damages, then to vitalize manufacturing industries and exploit trade routes as the victor.

The pained look, which had initially crossed Amano's face, returned to his eyes as he looked between the three. "You are the reason," he said quietly. "Children like you. It doesn't matter what country you belong to – no child should have to fight at such a young age. No child should have to be haunted by the traumas of war. Especially not for the sake of somebody's greed."

Listening to his words, Midori thought of Iku and wished he had known about Amano and his efforts. Maybe then he would have been able to grasp a thread of hope, knowing someone was out there trying to fix the distorted realities of their world.

"I don't know what you've seen or experienced," Amano went on, "but I am so sorry. We were so close to stopping this war."

Midori took a step forward and gently took one of Amano's fisted hands between her own. He looked up in surprise and she smiled gently.

"Thank you, Amano-san," she said. "What you're doing means a lot to us and all the other children fighting in the war. Even if you aren't successful now, I'm certain your efforts will change the future. There will come a day when children can grow up in peace, not knowing what we know. It's my dream to make that happen and I'm glad to know others like you are working so hard to achieve the same goal."

"You don't need to worry about us," Obito added. "War or no war, we don't regret becoming shinobi."

Midori nodded and squeezed Amano's hand reassuringly. "We'll be sure to deliver your scroll."

The old man gazed at them and smiled in resignation. "Forgive me for my rambles. You are stronger and far wiser than your age. Sarutobi must be proud to have shinobi like you." He took a breath and stood up. "Go now. I'll show you to the back door."

Amano took them behind the house and unlocked the small door on the southwest corner of the property. Checking along the empty back street, he nodded to the three and stepped aside to let them pass.

"Thank you for your service, and take care of yourselves," he said. To Midori, he added, "You have my word, I will not stop trying until this foolish war ends."

Midori grinned and nodded. Kakashi and Obito bowed, and then the three disappeared into the darkening night.

Turning the closest corner, they ran down another empty street. It seemed everyone was gathered in the village square to watch the fireworks. As if on cue, they heard a high-pitched squeal of the first shot rising in the air behind them. As it exploded with a crack in the distance, they turned another corner and froze.

They had all been keenly aware of their surroundings – and yet none of them had felt this presence until it dropped down on them with a billow of wind.

"Fools! Ya fools!" the large man boomed. "Kids your age gotta go see the firework jewels!"

There was no doubt he was a ninja. Yet they couldn't feel a fiber of animosity or threat coming from where he stood a few feet from them. He swayed erratically to the rhythm of his bobbing head and raised his arms to the fireworks brightening the dark sky.

"Boom boom they go!" he cheered. "Don't they brighten your hearts, yo?"

At a loss, the three simply stared at the peculiar man. They saw him as the clown that he appeared to be, but their bodies and instincts wouldn't let them move a muscle. There was no question he was dangerous.

"So kids," the man went on, swinging his arms around to point his fingers at them. "What business you got with the old man Amano? Friend or foe, visiting the lord is a big no-no."

"We're from a village in the south," Midori said, hitching her voice to sound young and clueless. "Grandpa's friends with Amano-san and sent us with harvest gifts."

"Ho-ho… Is that so?"

Then he moved – and they didn't have the time to so much as take a step. One second, the man was bouncing on the balls of his feet and in the next, he was more than halfway to killing them.

Kakashi wasn't able see him. All he felt was a surge of killing intent, so overwhelming that it robbed him completely of thought. He didn't know he had even moved until the tip of the man's thin sword was drawing a bead of blood from his throat under the mask. Cold sweat broke out on his temples and along his back. His muscles were frozen. One leg was drawn back, his waist lowered, and his right hand was hovering over the empty space along his right upper thigh where his weapons holster was usually strapped. Not now.

He swore silently, unable to believe his own stupidity.

"Fools. Ya small, small fools," the man breathed quietly. His eyes, hidden behind the sunglasses, were tilted toward Kakashi's right hand. "You're a shinobi."

Midori and Obito stared, unable to move, barely able to breathe. Rarely in their years on the frontlines had they seen anyone move at this speed. It was on par with Minato – and they had never been able to overcome their teacher if he hadn't wanted them to.

They needed to run. There was no chance they could win, especially with so many other Clouds in the village.

Before any of them could move, however, they heard a voice call out from the mouth of the alley. "Bee."

The three Chuunin tensed. Obito risked a glance over his shoulder and saw another man, tall and bulging with muscles, silhouetted against the streetlights.

"Hey Brother," Bee greeted, moving only his face to acknowledge the new arrival. Kakashi could feel another droplet of blood spread a speck of warmth as it dampened his mask. Hearing the name Bee, he suddenly remembered Minato telling them about the A-B tag team he had once fought from the Hidden Cloud Village. That meant this fool of a rapper was Killer Bee, the Jinchuuriki of the Eight Tails. He could have sworn again.

"What are you doing here?" A snapped. "I called you an hour ago. We're leaving. Now."

"Brother, these are shinobi kids. They met with Amano, oh yes they did."

"Then kill them and let's go. We don't have time to waste. I'm heading out. You better catch up in thirty seconds."

"Okay Brother," Bee sang, and watched A disappear with speed and stealth that belied his heavy stature.

The three tensed, preparing to spring into action regardless of their chances of survival, but Bee slowly withdrew his sword and sheathed it. He stepped back and raised his hands to signal peace.

"Listen kiddies and listen well. I ain't gonna kill ya. Why? 'Cause I like the look in your eyes." Though his voice and movements were as moronic as ever, his words and expression were serious. "The world's big. Bigger than the borders of our countries. There may come a time when shinobi with your kind of eyes will stand with us as allies. But if our paths cross again before that, I'll beat you to dust like a cat and rat. Got it, ya fools? Remember my words!"

With that, he was gone as suddenly as he had appeared.

Obito was the first to release his breath in a whoosh and collapsed against a stack of crates lining the alleyway. "That was close."

"Are you okay, Kakashi?" Midori asked.

Kakashi nodded, absently rubbing his throat. "We should leave before they realize he let us go."

Voicing the words chafed his pride but he let training whitewash the personal sentiment and focused instead on their mission and survival so deep in enemy territory.

Each with their own thoughts, they continued on their way, soon leaving Uemura behind and heading southwest under the cover of night. They didn't speak about the encounter with Bee, but chagrin and mortification hung heavily over them as they traveled. It pushed them to run faster and longer, barely stopping to rest and swallowing a soldier's pill without complaint when they reached their limits.

.-.-.-.

They ran for two days and nights, and on the third afternoon, they stopped on the banks of a river, knowing it may be the last before they were swallowed by the harsh, dry climate of Wind Country. They were in the middle of several small countries between the borders of Earth and Wind, but the ground was already nothing more than an orange mat of clay sand and the twisted trees grew withered and barren.

The three refilled their canteens and splashed water over their dusty faces.

"You don't suppose building endurance will help us gain spontaneous speed do you?" Midori said, rubbing a sleeve over her wet face.

"I suppose it's not totally unrelated," Obito replied. "Endurance builds chakra and helps chakra control. And better chakra control makes the Shunshin no jutsu more effective."

"Do you think that ninja's speed was a chakra-induced Shunshin?" Midori asked. They all knew she was talking about Bee.

Obito shrugged. "Beats me."

"…I felt electricity," Kakashi said, thinking back on those seconds as he had often done over the past two days. He hadn't noticed at the time, but the more he played back that one instant, the more he was certain he had felt a faint flicker of the lightning element. But it hadn't been in the attack. It had been in Bee's movements.

"Lightning?" Obito said. He was thoughtful for a moment. "I've heard the Third Raikage uses something like a lightning armor. Maybe the Clouds have a way of combining electricity and chakra to enhance their physical abilities."

Kakashi turned the idea over in his mind and thought it was definitely worth looking into.

Midori groaned. "That's not fair. Lightning's Kakashi's primary element. You're strong enough already!"

"What's strong enough about being held at sword point?" Kakashi grumbled.

Midori laughed and thumped his back. "All's well that ends well. We made it out alive, didn't we?" She stood up and stretched. "Let's deliver the scroll, then head home to train. We have a lot to do."

It was Obito's turn to groan. "Not again. Can I at least take a nice long bath first?"

"You're such a geezer Obito," Midori huffed.

"You're such a tomboy."

"Say that again?"

"Shh," Kakashi cut in. He stood up straight, straining his ears and breathing deeply through his nose. Without a word, he indicated a group of dense thickets and the three grabbed their bags and slid under the cover. They silenced their breaths and concealed their presences.

Not a minute later, a large group of Rock ninjas ran past, heading east. They were gone within a second, but it was clear that they were equipped for battle.

Kakashi, Obito and Midori hid for another minute, just in case, before crawling out. They shared a look.

"Sometimes I hate it when my instincts are right," Obito mumbled, gazing in the direction where the shinobi had disappeared.

"Should we get a message to Konoha?" Midori asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "They'll know by now."

"The battle could have even already started," Obito added.

"Let's hurry," Kakashi said.

* * *

Thanks for reading.

.LinSetsu.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve:**

It was past midnight when they arrived at their destination. Breathing heavily and covered in dust and sand, they rested for a moment outside the gates of the manor at least four times the size of Amano's residence. Though the hour was late, the night was far from still, stirred as it was by strong gusts of wind that warned of a quickly approaching sand storm. The streets were empty and all the houses were locked up tight in anticipation.

A maid opened the door for them and ushered them into the wide entrance of the manor. They were soon greeted by a mid-aged man, dressed in a flowing robe, who could only be Sanada. The three paid their respects and Kakashi handed him the scroll from Amano.

"Thank you," Sanada said. "I'm glad you made here safe. You must be tired. Stay here for the night."

Midori began to turn down the offer but Kakashi cut in and accepted the hospitality. Midori looked at him in surprise but he ignored the glance. They were all exhausted and the soldier's pill would be wearing off any minute. If they left now, they would only be sitting duck in the approaching storm. As if realizing just that, Obito and Midori said no more and they followed the maid into the house.

Kakashi paused at the bottom of the stairwell and turned to Sanada. "The Clouds were mobilizing in Lightning Country and we saw a group of Rocks heading east earlier today," he said. "Have the Sands heard of any news?"

Sanada nodded. "They dispatched a large force this afternoon."

"Where to?"

"That I don't know, I'm afraid."

Kakashi nodded his understanding and parted ways with the lord, who continued to his study down the hall. Kakashi climbed the stairs, his legs suddenly feeling like weighted lead. He nearly tripped on the last step, barely catching his balance as he leaned heavily against the wall for support. Their time was up.

He slowly walked to the one open door in the hallway and found the maid laying an unconscious Obito onto one of the beds.

"They suddenly collapsed," she said, seeing Kakashi in the doorway. Midori lay in a second bed, fast asleep.

"Thank you," Kakashi said, sitting down on the remaining bed. His movements were slow ad sluggish, his limbs feeling disconnected from his body. He lifted his heavy eyes to see the woman looking worriedly at his sleeping teammates. "Don't worry, we'll be fine… by morning…"

His words slurred as darkness closed in on him. For a moment, he struggled against the unwelcome wave of exhaustion but felt his body slumping onto the bed. The last he felt were soft hands straightening his body on the mattress and drawing the covers over him. The gentle pats she left on his chest, like a mother soothing her child, submerged him in a dream of a faceless woman with a tender smile who smelled of roses and lilies.

The memory was long gone when he awoke.

.-.-.-.

It was nearing noon when Kakashi finally surfaced from the muddy swamp of exhaustive sleep. His body ached terribly. With an effort, he pushed himself upright and saw that Obito was already awake and staring lethargically out the round porthole window at the haze of dust and sand outside. Between them, they heard Midori groan painfully into her pillow and curse the soldier's pill, the asshole who invented it and all the assholes who failed to optimize it.

"I hear you," Obito chuckled, stretching his arms with a grimace. "If it wasn't for this horrible side-effect I'd be happy to swallow it every day."

Kakashi gingerly got to his feet and carefully stretched out each of his limbs in turn, trying to loosen the muscles enough so they wouldn't scream in pain with every movement.

"I've heard the effects aren't as bad for adults," Obito went on, bracing himself against the wall and taking small, wobbling steps.

"Are you saying I'm short?" Midori ground out, hobbling to her feet like a 90 year old with a broken back.

"I'm saying… the least they could do... is make a kid's friendly version."

Midori gave up and slumped to the floor. As she always did when she watched her teammates – and herself – lurching around in pain the day after the soldier's pill had worn off, she found laughter bubbling up in her chest. As much as it hurt to even laugh, she always ended up in a wheezing fit, unable to contain it.

"What… is so funny?" Obito demanded.

"I can't… help it… ow ow ow," she gasped, doubling over to clutch her chest, even as the hysteria mounted. "I mean… look at us. We're meant to be… the best of our generation… and we can't even walk straight!"

"I… so can," Obito huffed. "Kakashi, meet me in the middle."

"Don't drag me into this," Kakashi grumbled, even as he took a bold step forward – and immediately regretted it. The muscles in his thighs felt like they were being torn apart, sending fireworks of pain shooting up his body.

"Whoa, steady there," Midori laughed, reaching out to support him as he keeled over. Her own legs gave way before she could stabilize either of them and with a shout, they tumbled right into Obito, sending all three of them to the floor in an unceremonious heap.

As the initial bolt of pain from the impact eased and they could somewhat breathe again, Midori continued to laugh until tears rose in her eyes. Obito soon fell victim to the contagion as well and heaved with sporadic laughter as he flopped onto his side and doubled over his stomach. Even Kakashi couldn't help but let out a chuckle in between groans at the ridiculous sight they must make.

That was how the maid found them – lying on the floor in a tangle of dusty clothes and limbs, gasping with pain, laughter and sheer amusement, all marks of worry and strain wiped clear, for once, from their youthful faces.

.-.-.-.

Soon after cleaning up and being treated to a light meal, the three parted with Sanada and left the town behind them. They travelled at a far slower pace, still making faces time and again as their bodies slowly healed. Sanada had suggested they stay another night, but the situation back in Fire Country was on all of their minds.

Though they gradually picked up speed, they were still in between Wind and Fire Country by nightfall and they settled under a dense line of trees on the banks of a river. They hadn't come across any shinobi, friend or foe, over the course of the day, but decided to take turns keeping watch.

Midori covered the first several hours and then swapped places with Obito some time after midnight. She was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the ground, but vague dreams and memories spun like cobwebs in her sleep, hardly frightening but frustratingly resilient and clinging.

She didn't know, and frankly didn't really care, how long the string of meaningless hallucinations had been dogging her – after several years of such frequent recurrences, she had acquired a convenient skill to ignore them and still enjoy sleep – but then, from one moment to the next, the quality of the dream changed.

No longer was she being chased through endless darkness. The world opened up into a sparse forest, dark and dismal. Her steps faltered and she looked around. It was quiet. A mist hung low over the ground, growing thicker with every passing second. She thought she heard something in the distant, and then quicker than physically possible, the world exploded into action.

Shinobi flew left and right. The air was filled with the sounds of hissing weapons and metallic clangs as they were shot down. Blinding light flared deep inside the mist and screams echoed off the trees. Out of reflex, Midori leapt out of the way, but quickly realized she was nothing more than a transparent bystander. The shinobi ignored her and one even ran right through her.

Another stupid dream, she thought.

Then pain exploded in her chest. Blood clogged her throat and the iron taste filled her mouth as she coughed. She stared at the hand buried deep in her chest. The world spun out of the focus. It was too bright. Something was screeching too loudly. She looked up at the shinobi in front of her and froze.

"Kakashi…?"

Midori jolted awake, her eyes wide and staring unseeingly at the boughs of a tree and the gray pre-dawn sky beyond them.

 _What in the world…_ She lay still for a moment, trying to make sense of the dream and wondering, at the same time, whether it wasn't best to just dismiss it as another silly figment of her imagination. But it had been too vivid, too real to simply brush off. Seeing premonitions wasn't a trait anyone in her clan possessed, but then again, her "clan" was little more than a group of mix-and-match shinobi from various families and even countries. Had she just seen her own death?

"You okay?"

Midori nearly jumped at Kakashi's voice. He sat next to her with his back against a tree. His hair seemed to shine in the dim light, but it wasn't the same brightness that had blinded her eyes in the dream.

"Midori?"

It wasn't this questioning look that had marked his face either. Horror, disbelief and despair had been etched across his eyes, and be it dream or premonition, it was all the same to Midori. Because she knew with unwavering certainty that Kakashi hadn't wanted to kill her. She was equally as certain that he would blame himself for it – and that maybe she wouldn't be around to tell him otherwise.

"Kakashi," she said, sitting up and turning to face him. Words were out of her mouth before she could even think about what she was saying. "It's not your fault. Whatever happens, it's not your fault. Remember that. No matter what, I forgive you. We forgive you."

It was only when Kakashi continued to stare at her as if she had grown another head that Midori realized she had no idea what her words meant either. We? Why had she been thinking about Rin? Quite frankly, she didn't even believe that what she had just seen was anything more than just a bad dream.

She felt her face grow warm with embarrassment and quickly looked away. "Never mind. Just remember what I said. Just in case."

Kakashi continued to stare at his teammate, unsure of what to make of her bizarre behavior. He didn't like the strange sense of unease it left in his mind, but he pushed it away as he watched Midori turn to where Obito lay sleeping and shake him ruthlessly awake.

"What?" Obito groaned, squinting through bleary eyes. "It's not even dawn yet."

"It's still a new day," Midori retorted. "You know what day, right?"

"Oh… Right." Obito sat up and grinned, all sleep gone from his face.

Kakashi blinked, wondering if he was fated not to understand anything this morning.

Midori drew a small parcel from her bag and extended it to him. "Happy birthday Kakashi."

He stared at the little wrapped gift with a blank look.

"See, I told you he'd forget," Obito laughed, thrusting a second object into his face. "It's your birthday genius."

Kakashi had forgotten all about it. But what him even more bewildered was – "You brought presents on an undercover speed mission?"

"A shinobi must always be prepared for anything," Obito replied with a grin.

"I'm sure this isn't applicable," Kakashi muttered, but Midori waved his exasperation was waved away and dropped her gift in his hands.

"Open it. I swear you'll be able to raise this one."

Kakashi doubted it, but removed the simple wrapping to reveal a mini plant kit the size of a tea cup. The image of a shining red tomato was drawn on its side.

"The cactus you gave me last year died within weeks and it was already grown," Kakashi reminded her. "What makes you think I can raise a tomato from seeds?"

"This one grows in water," Midori replied happily. "You don't need to do anything except add a little nutrient now and then. It's perfect for you."

Kakashi sighed. Every year, Midori gave him a plant for his birthday, claiming that his room needed something green. Every year, he somehow managed to let it die. Then without fail, she would always find him another one the next year.

"Isn't it time to realize I can't grow plants?" Kakashi asked.

"That's where I come in," Obito said, extending his gift.

Kakashi unwrapped a small handbook and read its title: _A Beginners Guide to Gardening_. Its subtitle read: _For Shinobi Highly Competent in Everything But Growing a Damn Plant_.

"It's a bestseller in Konoha," Obito snickered. "Look inside. We all wrote you a note."

He opened the cover to the find a column of five different handwritings, all essentially saying the same thing.

 _Good luck! – Midori_

 _Good luck – Obito_

 _Good luck Kakashi – Minato_

 _Good luck kid – Kushina_

 _Good luck Kakashi – Sandaime (PS: This is a good book. I own one too)_

Kakashi snapped the book closed. "You guys…"

Obito and Midori pealed with laughter, ignoring Kakashi's irritated huff and half-hearted glare.

"Why even bother with presents," he grumbled.

"For the fun of course," Obito replied right away.

"And to see you change your expression for once," Midori added.

Kakashi gave another huff and picked himself off the ground. "Let's go."

Still chuckling among themselves, his two teammates went to gather their bags and Kakashi opened his own to pack away the two gifts. He paused as he considered the mini plant kit and wrapped it carefully in a spare cloak for protection. He became aware of a small smile tugging his lips behind the mask despite everything and felt gratitude spreading warmly through his chest.

When they were ready to depart, Kakashi turned to Midori and Obito and simply said, "Thanks."

They grinned. "Any day."

"We're throwing a party too when we get back," Midori added as they set out across the plains. "I hope Minato-sensei and Kushina-san are back. We can invite Rin and Asuka too. And Gai!"

"No," Kakashi objected sharply. "Anyone but him."

Midori gave a sly grin. "Definitely Gai."

Nothing he said could change her mind and the morning passed with mindless conversations and countless sighs from Kakashi.

By noon they crossed the border into Fire Country but didn't meet the northwestern patrol team. Nevertheless, they relaxed as the scenery grew increasingly familiar around them and they picked up their pace, eager to return to the Village.

Their plans were abruptly changed, however, when they ran into a team of Konoha shinobi heading straight north. They immediately picked up on the tense air surrounding the older group and noticed their full armored equipment.

"Where's the battle?" Obito asked as soon as they proved their allegiance by displaying their forehead protectors.

"Just north of here on the border," replied one of the shinobi, whom they recognized was Akira, though his Genin team was nowhere to be seen. "It's been going on for two days. Most returning teams are being sent as reinforcement."

"We have no time to lose," another barked impatiently. "You three, come with us."

Akira began to object, but was interrupted.

"We can't afford to lose this battle, not when the Rocks and Clouds have formed an alliance." The older shinobi turned to the three Chuunin and noted their travel worn looks. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but we need all the forces we can get."

"Of course," Kakashi replied. He looked to the other two with a silent question. He knew the last mission had taken a large toll on all of their stamina and strength, and another soldier's pill would surely send them to the hospital at the end of the battle. He was prepared to do just that, but regardless of the other shinobi's demand, he wasn't going to force it on his team.

"I'm good to go," Obito reassured with a nod.

"Worrywart," Midori teased quietly. "Of course we'll go. It's for Konoha."

They joined the group of older Chuunin and Jounin and headed for the battlefield. As they were already close to the northern border, it wasn't long before they could hear the sounds of battle and feel the earth tremble beneath their feet.

The group soon dispersed to encircle the battleground while Kakashi, Midori and Obito searched the forest for the medical team working behind the lines. They found them beneath an ancient tree, and immediately understood why the Jounin had been so insistent they join the battle. Rows of injured shinobi lay on the ground and the air was filled with the nauseous scent of blood and burnt flesh.

The three dropped off their bags, swallowed a soldier's pill and tied their Konoha hitai-ate firmly across their foreheads. Then they grimly picked up ripped and abandoned weapons pouches and collected bloodied kunai discarded on the floor. The medic-nins spared them no more than a glance, too busy trying to save lives.

The battlefield was a sprawling field accentuated with large boulders, already bearing the scars of being torn by two days of fighting. The grass had mostly been turned to mud, trees were uprooted and the plain dotted with bodies. Shinobi clashed and elemental attacks roared through the dust and smoke.

The three Chuunin wasted no time and slipped into the chaos, disguised by Midori's wind to cut down a group Rocks cornering a pair of Sand shinobi. Staying together, they moved as one, hardly needing to communicate as they coordinated attacks and covered each other's backs. They had fought and survived in enough battles to quickly and efficiently pick up the sporadic rhythms of the fights around them and use their slight figures to dart behind preoccupied enemies and dispatch them from behind.

So it surprised Kakashi when their integrated movements suddenly broke down and he found himself fending off a pair of Clouds on his own. Leaping high over their attacks, he hurled _Housenka_ flames at them, followed by a handful of shuriken disguised in the fire balls. He landed behind his teammates, but before he could figure out what had caused them to freeze, the ground cracked open and dirt shot up at them like thousands of bullets.

"Midori!" Kakashi shouted.

Snapping out of her daze, Midori encircled them with a swirling gust of wind and deflected the attack.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked.

Midori simply answered, "Misa."

For a second, he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Remember Gamashi Kengou?" Obito said, a frown marking his usually laidback face as he tightened his grip on a kunai.

"That's Gamashi Misa," Midori finished, staring straight ahead through the dying winds of her technique, which revealed three young Rock ninjas standing ready to attack.

Two were boys, their hands already going through a set of seals. The third was a girl who darted forward, propelled by shafts of earth that shot out of the ground beneath her feet. In an instant, she was behind them, hurling mud spikes from the ground while her teammates attacked with what looked like clawed stone beasts. Kakashi threw up an earth wall to block the spears and felt Obito and Midori combine their elements to counter the attack up front.

Without pause, the girl vaulted over the wall and slashed down with a short sword. Kakashi blocked it with a kunai and pushed her back against the wall, which effectively acted as a barrier from the rest of the battle.

"Are you Gamashi Misa?" he asked, not letting her escape from the pressure of their locked weapons. The girl glaring at him was a far cry from the carefree child they had seen in the photo years ago, but her facial structure matched those in his memory and her braided hairstyle remained unchanged.

"What if I was?" she challenged after a moment, her eyes narrowed in suspicion and distrust.

That was a good question. Their options were limited on a battlefield, facing each other as enemies. "Have you reconciled with your parents?" Kakashi asked, not knowing what else to say.

Misa frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"We were asked by your father –"

A dark emotion passed over her face before he could finish his sentence and she stamped a foot onto the ground, sending needles of dirt flying up at him. Kakashi jumped back and bumped into Midori and Obito. He could feel the tension and uncertainly emanating from them. He needed to search for a way they could resolve this situation.

"I suppose the mercy rule applies here as well?" he muttered, already knowing the answer.

"Goes without saying," Midori snapped back, never taking her eyes off the two boys in front of her. "It applies to these two taijutsu freaks too."

Kakashi could have groaned, but supposed it wouldn't improve their standing in Misa's eyes if they killed her teammates. Instead, he asked, "Taijutsu freaks?"

"The one called Kakyou can open the first of the _Hachimon Tonkou_ Gates," Obito explained. "The other one called Nagi is an all-rounder."

Kakashi noticed Misa sending subtle hand signs to her teammates and knew they didn't have time. "Midori," he said. "Can you convince Misa?"

"I promised Gamashi-san I would," she replied resolutely as the ground sank beneath their feet like quick sand. The three leapt away, with Midori and Kakashi exchanging places, to engage their opponents once again.

Kakashi quickly found out which one was Kakyou based on his sheer speed and the weight behind his attacks. After exchanging several blows, he could feel numbing tingles begin to run up his arm. Nagi supported Kakyou with mid-range earth techniques but proved himself equally capable of fending off Obito's taijutsu attacks when the Uchiha found a defenseless opening to exploit.

Crossing paths, their eyes met and Obito gave a small nod. Kakashi flicked his hands through a set of seals and expanded his chest. _Fuuton Daitoppa_. The ballooning gust of wind was joined by Obito's katon flames, momentarily blinding all their sights as it surged over the ground. Obito dove right into its midst, flinging a handful of duplicated Kage Shuriken in the direction he felt the two Rocks hiding.

Nagi deflected the weapons with shafts of earth, but looked down in surprise when he felt hands grasp his ankles.

Kakashi managed to drag him halfway into the ground before the soil around him turned hostile and he made a mental note never to fight a Rock ninja with earth techniques again. He escaped the ground with a pierced left shoulder and counted himself lucky to have avoided the rest of the underground porcupine trap.

Pushing the throbbing pain to the back of his mind, he clasped his hands and concentrated his chakra on the pool of water he had connected with deep inside the earth. As Obito kept the two Rocks busy, Kakashi pulled the water up and snaked two trickles discreetly around Kakyou and Nagi's boots. The task was done in a second and he was about to move on when he suddenly felt a surge of killing intent from behind and instinctively rolled to the left to avoid a large Fuuma Shuriken that dug deeply into the land where he had been crouching. Bloody bandages were speared on one of its blades, but when he searched for the user, he found all the enemies nearby occupied in their own fights.

Kakashi's attention snapped back to the Rocks when he heard a dull crack and saw Obito being hurled into the air by Kakyou's kick. Kakashi immediately snapped the chakra-controlled water into physical binds, stopping the two Rocks in their tracks, and released a burst of electricity through the water. _Raiton_ _Suiraiden_.

Nagi and Kakyou gave a short scream as their bodies went into a seizure. Nagi threw a last desperate doton attack and blindly shot off a series of stone bullets in an effort to stop Kakashi. But Obito was already landing in front of his teammate, his hands slamming onto the ground and erecting a _Doryuuheki_ mud wall to block the attack.

The two Rocks soon lost consciousness and Kakashi dropped his hands with a sigh. "You okay?" he asked Obito, who was leaning against the wall he had just build.

"I swear I think he broke a rib," Obito groaned, "Are they still alive?"

"They should be."

The two went to check on the Rocks and, finding them still breathing, pushed them into the shadows of a boulder.

"What about your shoulder?" Obito asked.

Kakashi pulled out a roll of bandages he had picked up at the medical field and tied it carelessly over the wound. "Let's go."

They had drifted away from Midori and Misa over the course of the fight and he didn't want to leave them alone for long.

.-.-.-.

"Misa-chan!" Midori called, losing count of how many times she had tried to get the other girl to listen as they clashed time and again with weapons and ninjutsu attacks. Misa was fast on her feet and had good mastery over a wide variety of techniques but Midori felt that much of her experience had come from training, not battles. Her movements were straightforward and showed none of the ruthless cunning that often manifested in shinobi immersed in the war.

"Stop calling me that," Misa snarled, landing behind Midori and swinging her foot in a swift kick. "You don't even know me!"

Midori spun and grabbed the foot, then raised a kunai to block a downward slash from Misa's sword. "I know your parents. They've been worried sick about you."

"I don't even remember them anymore. They don't mean a thing to me."

"But _you_ mean the world to them!"

"How do you even know my parents? They live in Earth country. They should have nothing to do with the Leafs."

"We were on a mission to protect your father before the war."

For the first time, Misa looked straight into Midori's eyes. "You were recognized as shinobi before the war?"

"As a Genin –" Midori began to reply, but was cut off when Misa laughed and broke free.

"Then you have no idea," Misa sneered. "You have no idea how hard we had to work just to be recognized as shinobi. How being born a civilian put us at the very bottom of the hierarchy – to be kicked around as practice dolls and spat on. I was stronger than most of my class and it still took me six years just to join a team and fight alongside everyone else."

"Why didn't you leave?"

"I chose to become a shinobi. Like hell I would give up."

Despite everything, Midori blinked and almost laughed. If only they had met under different circumstances, she was sure they would have become quick friends. The reality was worse than sobering. She lowered her kunai and searched Misa's face.

"They're proud of you," she said. "No matter what they said before you left, your parents are proud of your choice and your courage. They told me so. They'll be proud of your resolve too. Please, just go see them. You're lucky to have them."

Misa's expression seemed to waver for a second, but then quickly hardened. "Lucky? Lucky to have civilian parents? You must be kidding me. You can't imagine how many times I wished they weren't my parents. How many times I wished they were dead and I was an orphan!"

Hearing those words, Midori felt anger and sadness well up in her chest and the emotions propelled her into motion before she knew it. Manipulating small burst of wind at will, she countered all the earth strikes that Misa hurled at her and pushed the Rock girl back despite her numerous attempts to dodge away and distance herself. Desperation and pressure began to seep into Misa's movements. Midori pursued her relentlessly, not caring when a wild swing of the sword cut open her cheek or when a dirt spear grazed her thigh.

"What is it with you!?" Misa demanded, ducking under a punch and leaping back. She dug her hands into the ground and threw up three consecutive walls of earth but they were cracked open in an instant with a piercing burst of wind. It threw her off her feet and knocked the air clean from her lungs. She landed and skidded along the muddy ground, looking up in time to see the Leaf and her unforgiving eyes descending on her with a raised kunai.

Misa clamped her eyes shut – and felt a sharp crack on her cheek that snapped her head violently to the side. She blinked. It took a moment for her to realize she had been slapped.

Midori grabbed a fistful of Misa's shirt and shook the stunned girl with every bit of strength she had.

"You ungrateful brat!" she screamed. Her breath hitched and her lips quivered. She didn't know where this overwhelming sorrow came from, but it swallowed her whole and brought tears to her eyes. "Do you have any idea how many children have lost their parents in this war? How many blame themselves for their family's deaths? It's not just shinobi – not just this war. You have no idea how lucky we are to still have our parents!"

Still trembling with anger, she took a breath and let go of Misa's shirt. Slowly, she backed off and got to her feet. The battle raged on beyond the boulder behind her back, but the overcast skies darkened the land and obscured their small statures in the shadows of the large rock.

"I'll respect your choice if you decide you don't want to return home," Midori said, her voice quieter but no less fierce. "But I'll never forgive anyone who wishes their parents were dead, much less blame them for the challenges you took on. No respectable shinobi thinks like that. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"What do you know?" Misa muttered, her words still defiant, but her voice and eyes ceding defeat.

Midori thought of Kakashi and the number of times she had seen him withdraw into himself and shrug as if returning to an empty house meant nothing to him. She thought of Iku and the countless others in Konoha who suffered from the loss of their loved ones.

"I don't know anything," Midori said. "But I've seen their pain, and I don't wish it on anybody."

Misa stared at her for a long moment in silence. Then dropping her eyes, she was about to speak when a voice sounded behind Midori.

"I'm moved to tears."

Midori spun around and in the split second between shock and disbelief, she made the decision to stand her ground as a thin sword was thrust down on her. The blade pierced her raised arm – the only thing that prevented her eye from being skewered – and dug deep into her right collar.

"Iku?" she breathed, the blood rising in her throat. As if summoned by her thoughts, the boy they had saved just days ago was crouched on the boulder, his right hand lightly gripping the other end of the sword. His severed arm was no longer covered by the bandages they had wrapped around it and the raw, unhealed stump was laid bare. "…How?"

"My kind comrades found me and gave me a drug that made all the pain go away," he replied with a mirthless smile. Midori knew immediately which Iku this was even before he finished, spitting, "All because you fuckers were too wimp to finish me off! Thanks for nothing!"

He yanked the sword back and Midori bit back a cry as the blade tore through her arm. But before he could make another move, she raised her left hand, gathered the chakra around her and slammed a burst of razor edge wind at him at point blank range.

Iku faltered but maintained his grip on the rock and laughed as the winds sliced deeply into him. "I told you, I don't feel a thing. It's the perfect day to die! Does the Rock ninja there want to die too?"

He raised a hand and an unnaturally large surge of chakra sent bolts of lightning crashing down around them. Someone screamed but Midori wasn't sure if it was her or Misa. Even without a direct hit, the sheer size and volume of the attack electrocuted everything within its circle, splintering the ground and leaving it smoldering. Feeling her consciousness slip, Midori tried to shake herself awake, not sure when she had fallen but feeling the damp earth beneath her fingers.

 _Iku_ , she thought frantically. Where was he? Spurred by pure instinct, she threw her weight to the left, bracing herself over Misa.

At the same time, she felt something cool run across her throat – like a splash of water.

She didn't feel the pain. By the time she realized it had been a blade, warmth ran down her neck and chest. Blood rose in her mouth when she tried to breathe. The hand against her throat came away red. And as suddenly as it had happened, she quietly accepted the fact that the wound was fatal.

But all she could think about was the fact that Iku had just tried to kill Misa – an ally.

Misa, staring with wide, horrified eyes, was reaching out to her. Midori wanted to reassure her it was okay, but didn't think she could speak that many words. "Run," she said instead, not knowing if the gurgle that came out was comprehensible. She shoved Misa to the side and opened her mouth wide again. "Go!"

Without waiting to see if the girl complied, Midori rose to her feet, pushing back hard against the darkness closing in around her. Searching desperately for purchase, she yearned for Obito's fire to light her darkening world.

Someone was standing in front of her. Iku. She started to ask him why he had tried to kill an ally, but already knew the answer. His hatred was for all shinobi. It was ironic that his hatred was the only equality in his world.

Then he was rushing forward again, sword poised. Midori raised her hands in a set of seals. She didn't know where the strength came from, but was grateful nonetheless. She formed a whirlwind of chakra outside her body and then drew it deep into her chest. She thought again of Obito's fire and the long hours he had spent trying to teach her the technique. Why hadn't she ever thought of this? It was so easy.

Midori found herself grinning. _Katon Goukakyuu no jutsu._

The wild burst of fire, propelled by her innate element of wind, ripped up the ground and scorched everything it touched. Iku leapt right into it with open arms, as if embracing the attack, and was hurled across the field.

"Midori!"

She slowly turned to see Obito and Kakashi rushing toward her, and even as her legs gave way and she felt herself falling, she couldn't help but raise her fingers in a V sign and grin broadly. _See?_ _Piece of cake._

Surprisingly, she had no regrets as she felt life slip away. The last she felt was Obito and Kakashi grabbing her arms and catching her before she hit the ground. Then all feeling drained from her body and she could barely hear Obito frantically shouting her name as Kakashi tried to stop the bleeding from her neck.

She wanted to tell them not to look so upset. The anguish and helplessness in Kakashi's face reminded her of the dream that morning. It felt so long ago. Relief washed through her. _Good_ , she thought. _It was just a stupid dream after all. Everything's going to be okay Kakashi._

She felt at peace. There was a lot left she had left unfinished, but she wasn't worried, because she knew her team would pick up what she had started – carry on what she had believed in and fought for. She remembered that day not long ago when they had made the promise.

Midori raised her hands one last time and curled her fingers into Kakashi and Obito's shirts. The world went dark but she smiled to tell them it was okay. It was okay. They were still alive.

"…the rest…" she breathed, "…in your… hands…"

 _I'm leaving the rest in your hands, okay?_

As long as they lived, so would her will.

It felt better than saying goodbye.

* * *

Translations:  
 _Housenka_ \- Phoenix Fire  
 _Hachimon Tonkou_ \- Eight Celestial Gates  
 _Fuuton Daitoppa_ \- Great Breakthrough  
 _Raiton Suiraiden_ \- Liquid Lightning  
 _Doryuuheki_ \- Mud Wall  
 _Katon Goukakyuu no jutsu_ \- Grand Fireball

Thoughts are welcome.

Response to Guest (review from June 12): Your wish if my command ;) Thanks for your review.

.LinSetsu.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen:**

 _Midori stared up at the summer clouds drifting lazily in the sky from where she lay sprawled on the slope of a hill, her head hanging downhill._ _Her heart was still racing from the rigorous training they had just finished, but her breathing had slowed and her expression grew thoughtful._

" _Sensei?" she asked without bothering to lift her head._

" _Mnn?" Minato replied from where he sat further up the hill. Obito and Kakashi were resting in between. They had both just been released from the hospital two days ago after sustaining heavy injuries during a mission on the eastern coast of Fire Country. Midori and Minato had been working separately and she couldn't forget the heart-stopping chill she had felt when they had finally rendezvoused and found the two boys covered in blood and barely conscious in the middle of a field of copses._

 _Over a year had passed since she had first killed someone and she had since lost count of the number of lives she had taken – especially after becoming a Chuunin and participating in increasingly dangerous missions. But seeing her teammates so close to death had planted a new type of fear deep into her heart. One which she hadn't been able to shake during the weeks Obito and Kakashi had spent recovering in the hospital._

" _How do you cope with facing death?" she asked. "Both your own and people close to us?"_

 _Minato's easy smile slipped away and he regarded his student with somber eyes. He had known Midori was struggling with something – had felt it during the long hours she had sat in oppressive silence beside her unconscious teammates in the hospital room. But he had never thought this was what she was grappling with. Then again, a voice in his head said, he should have known._

 _He gave the question some thought and realized it was something he had never discussed with anyone before, not even Kushina. It was one of those things shinobi just figured out on their own as they grew older, much like how one figures out how to cope with stress. It suddenly struck him how child-like her question was and it felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach. Sometimes – too often – he forgot they were only nine years old._

 _Midori sat up and looked questioningly at Minato when his silence stretched. Obito and Kakashi looked between the two and the straightforward curiosity in their expressions pained him all the more. To them, death wasn't some vague concept to be grasped as they grew older. Death – and more specifically their own death – was a tangible, inescapable presence standing right next to them and they wanted to know if there was a proper way to deal with it._

 _Pushing all the contradictions and absurdities of their circumstances to the corner of his head for fear of being swallowed by them, Minato took a deep breath and glanced at the sky, thinking._

" _Well, let's see," he began slowly. "There's of course, no single answer. Everyone will have a different opinion, but if you're okay with hearing mine, here's what I think. You're all familiar with the Will of Fire, right?"_

 _His students nodded, having heard the philosophy from the Hokage himself when they had been promoted to Genin._

" _Just as the Will of Fire is passed down from one generation to the next, I believe the wills of every individual are also passed on from one to another. It may be between family members, friends, teams, rivals, even enemies." He gave a sheepish smile. "Mine's simple: I want to protect the future of Konoha and all its people. Even if I die, as long as someone carries on my will, I feel my life and death wouldn't have been in vain. Similarly, I'm also carrying on the wills of all my friends and comrades I've lost. They're a part of me, just as I'll be a part of someone else if I die."_

 _The three Chuunin were silent as they mulled over his words._

 _Eventually Midori spoke up. "Our will… it's what we fight for, right?"_

" _Right. What we fight for, our dreams, our hopes."_

 _She lifted her face. "I want to protect the children of Konoha, and make sure they can grow up without being afraid of the war."_

 _Minato smiled and nodded._

 _Midori looked between her teammates. "What about you?"_

" _I want to fight to protect my comrades," Obito said._

 _Kakashi was silent until they both turned their expectant eyes on him. He sighed and shrugged stiffly. "I just fight to grow stronger," he muttered. "Without strength, we're powerless to do anything."_

" _He has a point," Obito agreed._

" _Then it's decided," Midori said, rising to her knees and extending a hand to each of their chests. "Even if one of us falls, the others will carry on their will. As long as one of us lives, we all live." She grinned. "No one's good enough to kill all three of us."_

 _Obito returned the grin. "It's a promise."_

 _Kakashi nodded. "Sounds good to me."_

" _Make that four," Minato said, drawing them all into one big hug._

 _Midori laughed. "With you on our side we'll be invincible!"_

.-.-.-.

Midori's hands fell loose from their shirts and landed with an empty thud at her sides.

"No… no, no, no, no," Obito rambled beneath his breath. He immediately grabbed her hand and squeezed hard, reaching out to tap her face insistently as he searched for any movement. "Midori! Midori, wake up! I know you love to sleep but this isn't the time! Midori!"

Kakashi's hands were trembling, soaked with blood where he was pressing against the open wound. He didn't know if it was still bleeding. He couldn't feel anything. He pressed harder, searching for a pulse. Anything. All he could feel was the stupid shaking of his fingers. Obito's voice rang painfully in his ears, piercing through the echoes of his own harsh breathing. His heartbeat, his rushing blood, everything was too loud – everything around Midori was too quiet.

"Is she dead? Lucky her."

Kakashi looked up and saw Iku staggering toward them, most of his body burned an angry red and bleeding profusely. He swayed dangerously as he dragged his feet, one after another, slowly closing the distance between them.

Kakashi felt something squeeze his heart so tight he thought he would never breathe again. From afar, he had glimpsed the figure slashing Midori's throat and hadn't want to believe the one-armed silhouette he had seen, or the outline of a face he had left unconscious and alive just days prior.

Alive, alive, alive – Kakashi had let him go alive. His eyes slowly fell to land on Midori's peaceful, bloodied face. She was still smiling. _Why_ was she smiling when she knew he had let him live?

"I did you spineless assholes a favor don't you see?" Iku said, stopping just a few feet from them. He spread his remaining arm and twisted his half-scorched face in a sickening grin. "You couldn't kill me without a reason so I killed your teammate for you. Now you have a moral reason to kill me! Isn't that true? Doesn't that feel –"

His words were drowned in a wave of blood rushing up his throat as Kakashi and Obito slashed his neck open from both sides. Their kunai dug in so deep they nearly decapitated him. For a second, as he fell back, the Cloud's eyes filled with tears and remorse.

"I'm… so sorry…" he spluttered through the blood in his mouth. Somehow, they knew he meant it.

Kakashi landed on his feet, clenching his jaws so tight it hurt. Obito went down with Iku and knelt over the body with his shaking hand still curled tight around the kunai. He lifted the weapon high and with a broken scream, plunged it deep into the Cloud's neck again and again and again. He didn't stop when his breath ran out and his voice turned to ragged groans or when his arms and face and chest were drenched blood and bits of meat.

He only stopped when Kakashi grabbed his slippery wrist and gripped it so tight the kunai fell out from his fingers.

Obito finally lifted his face, his eyes obscured behind the blood running down his goggles. His mouth was parted and twisted horribly as if in physical agony.

Kakashi didn't say anything. He couldn't. There was nothing to say. He simply pulled Obito to his feet and walked back to where Midori lay.

As if a dam had broken, all the sounds of the battle rushed back. What had been a secluded area of the field was suddenly filled with shinobi. Something had turned the tides, driving the enemy back. Absently noting the changes in the battle but hardly paying the enemy any attention, Kakashi knelt above Midori's head and brought his hands together in a set of seals.

Before he could finish, a group of Clouds descended on his defenseless figure and Kakashi paused. But Obito tapped his shoulder lightly as he kicked off the ground. _I've got this_ , it said. _Keep watch over Midori._

Hooking his finger around a kunai as he flew to meet the enemy, Obito wiped his other hand roughly across his goggles. The eyes revealed behind the blood were a deep carmine red, flecked with two black tomoe swirls, spinning with the fury and grief that writhed in his chest.

Kakashi turned back to Midori. Completing the seals, he pressed his hands gently into the ground and formed a small, earthen dome over her body. He clenched his eyes shut as it closed over her peaceful face and his fingers dug into the loose mud. They would protect her. This time, they wouldn't fail.

Kakashi rose to his feet and met Obito's eyes as his teammate stepped over the bodies of the enemy he had dispatched. Then another wave of shinobi rushed between them and Kakashi threw himself into the battle, shutting down all thoughts and losing himself in the deadly chaos – wishing and knowing that nothing he did would change the fact that his world would never be the same again.

.-.-.-.

Misa found her teammates lying unconscious some distance away from the worst of the fighting. She shook them awake to find they were otherwise unharmed. Another wave of emotions tightened her throat as she looked back to where she had left the Leaf girl who had protected her unconditionally. She realized she didn't even know her name.

"What's going on?" Kakyou asked, pressing a hand to his aching head while looking out at the battlefield. It was obvious their forces were being scattered and pushed back.

"It's Konoha's Yellow Flash," Misa replied, having picked up the name as it was uttered by the shinobi on the field in tones of spite, fear and awe.

"We have to go back," Nagi said. He rose unsteadily to his feet and turned to the area where the shinobi were concentrated. "We have to prove ourselves."

Misa stopped him. "Not over there." It was the direction she had just come from, where she had glimpsed the Leaf's two teammates fighting. The sight had chilled her to the bones. "They'll kill you."

"What are you saying?" Nagi snapped in anger and frustration, but their argument was cut short by a short flare that rose into the dark sky.

"It's the retreat sign," Kakyou muttered. "Let's go."

Misa nodded and rose. As she placed a hand on the boulder, she noticed a small flower growing between its cracks. It was nothing more than a weed, but she plucked it and then followed Nagi and Kakyou. Her teammates skirted the battleground while Misa slipped into its midst, using her speed to duck between the lingering fights. She didn't stop when she saw the mound of earth covering the Leaf girl, but dropped the flower onto it as she passed by overhead.

.-.-.-.

As the heavy clouds finally gave way to rain, Minato stood with the other Leafs and Sands and watched their enemies disperse. They left behind a gruesome scene of charred earth and twisted bodies. Minato closed his eyes, wishing he had been able to finish his mission much sooner. With a shake of his head, he pushed the pointless regrets to the back of his mind and began to help the others look for survivors.

He couldn't tell the exact time, but the thickening darkness signaled nightfall and made their task that much harder. Fires were lit and all the shinobi still able to stand assisted the medics as they scoured the plain, bringing in anyone alive and sorting through the dead.

Minato moved further down the field, stooping down to check on every body he came across, still hoping to find someone still breathing, be they friend or foe. As his eyes drifted between the ragged boulders, he caught sight of a familiar tuft of silver hair, matted with blood, dirt and rain.

He straightened in surprise. When he had briefly checked in at the Village, Hiruzen had said his team hadn't returned from their mission yet. How had they ended up here?

Minato rushed to his team, recognizing both Obito and Kakashi despite their different clothes. The two boys stood silently over a figure on the ground.

"Kakashi, Obito," he called.

They turned and the movement revealed Midori's face.

"Is Midori –" _okay?_ The word froze in his throat. He was close enough now to see the black stains on her neck and chest in the flickering light of the fires nearby. Her face was blue-white and waxen, lacking all signs of life. He had seen enough bodies to know she was long dead.

He swallowed hard and turned his eyes to the two boys. _Later_ , he told himself. He would have time to grieve later. His responsibility now was to his living students.

Kakashi stood slumped to his left, his arm hanging limply. A gash along his temple stained his hair and bloodied the side of his face. His eyes were cast down and Minato couldn't read his expression in the darkness. Obito had wrapped a hasty bandage over a wound on his thigh, but it was clear the bleeding had yet to stop. His shoulders were hunched, rising and falling in small, shallow breaths typical of someone with rib injuries.

Nevertheless, Minato knew the raw pain in his eyes when he looked up had nothing to do with his wounds.

"She died protecting Gamashi Misa," Obito said, answering Minato's silent question. He remembered the name. He also remembered the silent wish he had made that day, praying that his students wouldn't have to meet the girl on a battlefield.

The heavens had never liked to answer Minato's prayers.

"I see," he said, kneeling beside Midori and placing a hand against her cold cheek. He tried to smile and didn't quite manage. "You kept your promise to Gamashi-san."

Kakashi stirred. "Sensei…"

Minato looked up and what he saw in Kakashi's eyes told him that there was more to Midori's death.

"Not now Kakashi," he said, cutting off any further remarks. "Whatever it is, it can wait. Go get treated, both of you. I'll take care of Midori."

Obito shook his head. "We'll take her. They'll need you to take command."

Minato rose and added an edge to his voice. "Neither of you are in any shape to be carrying anything. This is an order. Go to the medics. We're moving out in an hour." He placed a hand on each of their shoulders and was alarmed at the way they swayed under his touch. "There's nothing you can do here anymore," he added softly.

Minato watched them reluctantly turn away before he gently picked up Midori and carried her to where all the other fallen Konoha shinobi were being laid. It was only as he lowered her onto the ground that he noticed the wilted yellow flower caught in the folds of her shirt.

.-.-.-.

True to Minato's words, the Konoha forces began to head back to the Village within the hour, leaving behind only a small group of ANBU watchdogs. Kakashi and Obito travelled in the middle of the group, Kakashi carrying both his and Midori's bags. A tense silence stretched between them. They had barely spoken a word to each other since the battle ended.

The medics' emergency treatment allowed them to keep pace with the rest of the shinobi for the most part, but shortly before reaching Konoha, Kakashi noticed Obito lagging behind. His breaths came shorter and his steps began to slip on the wet ground. Kakashi dropped back and wrapped an arm around Obito's waist and shouldered his arm so he could take some weight off his injured leg.

"Your shoulder," Obito objected.

"It's numb."

After a moment, he felt Obito lean into him and they continued on their way, matching each other's stride without even meaning to.

Several minutes passed before Kakashi spoke again. "You awakened the Sharingan." It was more a statement than a question.

"The elders finally got what they wanted." Obito's voice low and bitter. Kakashi couldn't blame him. For as powerful as the Sharingan was, its awakening and development was often tainted by tragedy. He knew it was for that reason that Obito had never been bothered by his late awakening.

Kakashi had never imagined it would be Midori's death.

He felt a familiar emptiness begin to dig its claws into his chest. It hurt, like something was crushing him from the inside, but he knew the pain would soon pass and leave behind a barren void. It was the same – the very same sense of helplessness he had experienced five years ago when his father had died. Except this time, instead of confusion, it was unforgiving anger toward himself that clouded his thoughts and dragged him deeper into the black hole.

.-.-.-.

The Konoha forces who had stayed behind to defend the Village were quick to spot their returning comrades and hurried to open the gates. Word of their return spread quickly, and despite the late hour, villagers came out into the rain to watch the exhausted troops trudge toward the Hokage Rocks. Many were anxiously searching for friends, family or lovers while others lined the streets in solidarity and support.

The Third met them under the Hokage building, his robes soaked through and his hat dripping with rain. His face looked pale and drawn beyond his years, his eyes heavy with sorrow as he looked over the group – so much smaller than he had hoped.

The shinobi spread out in unorganized ranks before their leader and waited.

Hiruzen took a breath. "Thank you all for protecting Konoha and the people of Fire Country." His voice rang over the incessant patter of rain, but was soft on the ears of the shinobi who had heard nothing but the clamor of battle for hours if not days.

"More importantly," the Hokage continued, "thank you all for coming back to us. Go now. Rest yourselves well."

A murmur rose from the shinobi in response to the Hokage's words and then the crowds began to disperse. Before they knew it, Obito and Kakashi were being led to the hospital by their teacher, guided by his large, warm hands on their shoulders.

Obito looked up as they passed under the gates to see emergency tents set up in front garden. Medics and nurses hurried between patients, illuminating the night with the green glow of their healing chakra.

"Sensei," he said. "Where's Midori?"

Minato hesitated, searching Obito's face. For a second, he thought it was delirium, but Obito looked back at him with dark, steady eyes that knew what he was asking for. He wanted to say goodbye before she was cremated.

He looked at Kakashi, who nodded in response.

Minato knew they were on the verge of collapse, both mental and physical, but he couldn't bring himself to deny their wish. "Come with me."

He cut across the tents where they found themselves surrounded by pained groans and the firm, encouraging voices of the medics.

"Keep still!"

"You're almost done."

"Stay with me!"

"Can you hear me? What's your name?"

"Hang in there."

At the far end of the cluster of tents, Obito suddenly froze. Kakashi heard it too. Midori's voice. Out of reflex, he turned and searched the crowds, his sluggish mind not quick enough to remind him of reality.

As if sensing their eyes on her, a girl looked up and Obito strangled the cry that tried to break free.

Kakashi stared, not realizing his jaws were clamped tight until the dull ache penetrated his mind. He looked away. It wasn't Midori. Of course it wasn't. But they looked so alike.

"Rin."

The girl's medical smock was already stained with blood as she straightened from a makeshift bed and hurried toward them.

"Kakashi! Obito! Thank heavens you're safe. Where's Midori?"

Obito opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His chapped lips trembled as he pressed them closed and he tore his eyes away from a face too similar and too foreign at the same time.

"Was she hurt? Has she been brought in?" She glanced over her shoulder, but looked back when the silence stretched unnaturally.

Rin looked between the two, her eyes slowly widening as the possibility flitted through her mind, growing ever stronger when neither Kakashi nor Obito would lift their faces to meet her eyes.

"No…" she whispered. Color drained from her flushed cheeks and she raised a shaking hand over her mouth in disbelief. "That's not…"

"Midori died," Minato said quietly.

Rin flinched as if physically struck. Tears overflowed and she sank to her knees, shoulders shaking as she doubled over. A low moan pushed past the hand she held tightly over her mouth.

"Rin! Rin, where –" Asuka came up short when he saw them. Then his attention snapped to the figure on the ground and he was immediately by her side. "Rin! What's wrong?"

Kakashi felt Obito tense against him at the sight of his cousin. Unaware of it, Asuka looked between the two with wide eyes, for once showing more concern than aversion as he felt the anguished tension spreading thick around them.

"What –"

"Asuka," Minato cut in. "Take care of Rin."

Kakashi and Obito hesitated, then turned and followed their teacher. Behind them, Kakashi heard Asuka trying to calm Rin, but her suppressed sobs seemed to ring in his ears long after they were beyond hearing.

Minato led them behind the hospital and through an arch in a high wall veiled by ivy. Beyond it, they found a large, flat structure, its windowless walls and low ceiling constructed of plain limestone. It was almost cold inside and dimly lit by torches.

The flames shed light on rows of stone platforms, many of which were occupied by bodies wrapped in pristine white kimono. Medics dressed in starkly contrasting black worked silently, preparing the dead for their funeral rites. They barely glanced at the three as they walked down the isles until they came upon Midori.

She looked tiny on the large slab of stone. Her wounds had been wrapped, her face and hair washed clean. The front hems of the white kimono were crossed left over right, as was the ritual for dressing the dead. Her Konoha forehead protector rested on her chest, tucked under her clasped hands.

"Midori." Obito pulled away from Kakashi and limped to her side, reaching out for her hand that felt cold and clammy under his fingers. He pulled down his dirty goggles and shook his head at her. "What are you doing here Midori? You should be outside boasting about that awesome Goukakyuu you –" He choked on his words and lowered his head over the stone until his forehead was almost touching it.

Kakashi stared at Midori's face over Obito's shuddering shoulders and could almost see her crack open an eye and burst with laughter. She would tell them it had all just been a joke and tease Obito relentlessly for having taken it so seriously. _Any second now Midori_ , he thought, even as he knew the time would never come. Even so, it didn't stop him from wishing he could hear her bright voice one more time and see a joyful smile light up her face. _Any second now._

Minato combed his fingers through her neatly brushed hair and gave it a ruffle, just as he had done countless times over the years. " _Sensei!"_ she had always complained, her cheeks adorably puffed like a little chipmunk. This doll-like girl wasn't the Midori he knew, but at least now she looked a little more like her usual self.

"Rest peacefully, Midori," he said. "Leave the rest to us."

Obito slowly straightened and squeezed her hand one last time. "I gave you my word. We'll carry on your will. I promise. You'll be right here with us."

"Until the day we meet again," Kakashi murmured.

Minato placed a hand against their backs and they walked away. None of them looked back. None of them shed a tear.

 _The Shinobi Saying #25: No matter what situation, a shinobi must keep emotions on the inside and possess a heart that never shows tears for any reason._

* * *

Author's note (or rather question): Was the violence too graphic?

Thank you everyone for reading along.

.LinSetsu.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen:**

The heavy clouds that had weighed over Konoha all morning were slowly beginning to disperse and Minato watched pale patches of blue breaking through the dark sky from the Hokage's office. He was still wearing his black mourning attire from the mass funeral that had taken place at noon. Across the room from him, the Hokage sat at his desk and watched Minato from behind steepled fingers.

"Konoha needs a strong leader, now more than ever, to lead the Village to peace," Hiruzen said quietly. "It's time for your generation to take over."

Minato drew his gaze back from the windows and briefly met the Sandaime's eyes. "I feel honored to be given the offer," he said slowly, unable to push back the hesitation in his mind.

When he fell silent, the Hokage sighed softly. "But…?"

Minato dropped his eyes. "I feel I should be with my students. The circumstances surrounding Midori's death are…" He searched for the right words, not quite understanding the ominous feeling himself, but recognizing the hunch for what it was. He thought back to that morning when he had visited Kakashi and Obito at the hospital.

(Flashback)

Minato saw a medic walk out of his students' room and recognized her as the one he had asked to drug them into dreamless sleep the night before. She looked up from her clipboard as he approached.

"Are they awake?" Minato asked.

"Yes. Their wounds have also been stabilized. It's just…" She hesitated. "Did they lose someone yesterday?"

Minato nodded heavily. "Their teammate."

"I see," she murmured quietly. "That explains it. They didn't speak a word. I'm so sorry for your loss."

Minato thanked her and then rolled open the door to the room. Kakashi's left arm was held in a sling and a pair of crutches leaned against Obito's bed. When they saw him, they immediately sat up but Minato raised a hand.

"At ease. Stay where you are." He pulled up a chair between their beds and sat down before meeting each of their eyes. Despite the night's rest, their faces were drawn and pale. For a second, he considered putting it off, but saw no point in dragging out their misery. "What happened?"

Slowly, in voices barren of emotion, they began to report their mission. Minato listened without saying a word, only noting the places where their eyes hardened and their jaws tensed.

Iku, a rogue ninja with a split personality disorder from Kumogakure. The boys had no idea how he had been found and brought to the battle – only that he had killed Midori and they had killed him.

"I was the one who told Kakashi to let him go," Obito said, the first signs of emotion showing on his face as he cast down his eyes and dug his fingers into the linen. "It's my fault –"

"Obito," Minato cut in. "Let's not get hung up on whose fault it was. Everything that happens is the result of a complex web of causes and effects. No one can say for sure what actions caused which effects."

Obito shook his head. "Even so, if I had only –"

"You told me not to kill him," Kakashi said, looking sidelong at Obito. "But I was team leader, if only in name. I was under no obligation to follow your words. I chose not to kill him. When I went to hide him, I made the decision myself." He turned to face Minato and the emotionless eyes made something in his gut churn in foreboding. "I'll never make the same mistake again."

Minato hardened his expression and leaned forward. "Listen to me, both of you. Suspecting people and killing them is easy. Trusting others is the hardest challenge, but nothing can be achieved without it. No matter what happens, you must never lose the heart to trust people. Promise me that. It's what makes us human."

Kakashi and Obito fell silent and eventually nodded, but Minato knew it hadn't been enough. Obito's expression was still conflicted with guilt and pain. Kakashi had put up a blank mask, much like the five year old he had first met at Sakumo's memorial.

He couldn't blame them. It was still too early, their wounds still too fresh. He drew a silent breath and stood, then helped them prepare for the funeral.

(End Flashback)

Minato looked at the Hokage now and lowered his head in entreaty. "Please, give me some more time with them, Sandaime." He knew that if he accepted the title as Konoha's leader, he would no longer be able to prioritize his students above his other duties. Even if it was just for another few months, he wanted to stay by their sides and provide them with what little support he could.

The Hokage sighed deeply again, but eventually nodded. "I understand. It must be hard on you too. Forgive me."

Minato shook his head. "Nothing compares to your pain, Hokage-sama." He knew that every life lost was weighing heavily on Hiruzen's shoulders. The deep lines etched on his face spoke volumes. He respected the older man all the more for having the strength to still stand tall and face the many portraits of the dead, thanking them for their lifetime of courage and duty.

A knock disturbed the quiet office. Before the Hokage could respond, the door swung open and Orochimaru swept into the room.

"Sarutobi-sensei." He breezed past Minato and then paused, as if noticing him for the first time. "Oh I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" he asked.

Minato bowed respectfully. "We were just finished Orochimaru-sama."

He hadn't missed the part in Kakashi and Obito's report about their encounter with this Sannin, but let none of it show in his face as he took his leave. As he closed the door behind him, he heard Orochimaru's irritated voice fill the room.

"I find it hard to believe you have the leisure to be calling us back just to go on a wild goose chase for Tsunade who –"

The door clicked shut and Minato made his way down the hall. He was surprised to hear the search for Tsunade had resumed and even more so that the Hokage was sending his former students. Then again, he could understand the risk. Even from an objective viewpoint, the war was taking too much of a toll on the Village.

He stepped out onto the roof of the adjacent building and found Jiraiya leaning his back against the rails and gazing at the clouds. As Minato approached, his former teacher looked down and grinned.

"I hope Orochimaru didn't disturb you," he said.

Minato shook his head. "Are you being sent on the mission as well?"

Jiraiya heaved a sigh and shrugged. "I suppose. The geezer thinks that as Tsunade's former teammates we'll be able to somehow track her down. Wishful thinking if you ask me." He looked at Minato for a moment and then asked, "Are you accepting the title of Hokage?"

Minato rested his arms on the cold railing and narrowed his eyes against the biting wind. "No," he replied. "At least not now. I love the Village and all of its people. I want to do whatever I can to protect them. But right now, my students need me. I don't even know what to say to them but I know I need to be with them."

"I saw the reports," Jiraiya said quietly. "Sorry to hear about the girl."

Despite spending most of the night mourning and being comforted by Kushina, a dull pain flared in his chest at the thought that he would never see Midori again. He thought again to his remaining two students and sighed heavily. "There's so much darkness in the children of this war. It's unlike anything I've seen in my generation. It terrifies me."

Jiraiya scoffed. "There's darkness in any generation. You just happened to repel it like the world's most obnoxious floodlight." He made a sour face. "Total inconvenience to us bathhouse peepers."

Minato looked up in surprise and then laughed softly. "Serves you right sensei."

Jiraiya huffed. "As annoying as your light can be, it's also been a guiding beacon for many others in the Village. Believe me. Keep it up and your brats will eventually find the way out of the dark."

"Somehow I don't feel like I'm being praised, but I hope you're right."

"Brat, I'm always right."

Minato laughed again.

Jiraiya sucked in a deep breath and tipped his head back up to the skies. "Temperatures are dropping. It's going to be a long, cold winter."

.-.-.-.

Obito sneezed.

"Why is it so damn _cold_ ," he complained. A violent shiver shook his hunched shoulders and he rubbed his arms vigorously.

"Because it's winter and it's going to snow," drawled the kunoichi walking beside him. She raised a brow as she looked down on him. "Did I need to teach you the four seasons at the Academy Obi-chan?"

Obito growled at Mitsuki, the Special Jounin who had been their Academy teacher. "It's only November," he grumbled. "It never snows in November."

"You haven't caught a cold have you?" Kurenai asked from Mitsuki's other side.

"If I did, I'd never hear the end of it from Kakashi," he replied, tugging the collars of his shirt closer around his neck.

The three were walking down the streets of a large port town in Fire Country on a routine patrol mission. The other half of their team included Kakashi and Kurenai's teammates, Asuma and Raidou.

Since the battle two months ago, the large-scale casualties on all sides had resulted in each of the Hidden Villages withdrawing to lick their wounds and recuperate. Minato had predicted the repose would continue throughout winter and Konoha was wasting no time planning strategies and training shinobi.

As such, Genin teams were being incorporated into border duties and patrols to the many towns and villages in the country. Despite their routine natures, they still involved significant levels of danger from infiltrating enemies, which had prompted mission planners to expand the size of the teams to include Chuunin and Jounin level shinobi as a safety measure. Obito and Kakashi were kept busy between such missions and training sessions with Minato.

Having finished their rounds, Obito and the two kunoichi made their way back to the rendezvous point on the outskirts of town. In Obito's opinion, they couldn't get there fast enough. He had put up with Mitsuki's ceaseless bullying all day and couldn't take much more.

"Do you pick on all your former students or is it just me?" he asked as he eyed the smirk that emerged every time she looked at him.

"Only the ones who spent every day at the Academy pranking and then insolently graduated like it was nothing."

"The second part isn't my fault."

"The insolence part."

"Oh." A pause. "Hey wait!"

Mitsuki and Kurenai fell into a giggling fit, but their amusement lasted only until they neared the road leading out of town. A voice rang out in anger, accompanied by a dull thud.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

The three exchanged looks and broke out into a run. Rounding the last corner, they saw Kakashi pinned to a tree by Asuma who had his fist tangled in Kakashi's shirt.

"What's going on?" Mitsuki barked.

Raidou turned to them with a sigh. "We found a Mist spy and took him captive. Then Hatake killed him."

He nodded to the shadows of a tree where a body lay face down, eyes open in eternal disbelief, fresh blood still pooling around his neck. Kurenai blanched and looked away.

"He made a run and floored you both," Kakashi said, his eyes staring straight into Asuma's enraged face. "You're in no position to be complaining."

"You could have subdued him. You didn't have to kill him."

"You saw the sensitive information he had on Konoha. Risking him getting away wasn't an option."

Asuma glared and added pressure to his fist. Kakashi narrowed his eyes in warning.

"Stop it, both of you," Kurenai shouted as she came between them and pulled Asuma's arm.

Asuma let go with a look of disgust and turned to Obito. "Is this what you deal with every day? Why don't you talk some sense into him?"

Obito began to speak, then closed his mouth, his face darkening into a helpless expression as he looked away. "I can't," he said, his voice barely audible. "I'm sorry, I can't."

A strained silence fell over the group, which was broken by Mitsuki who clapped her hands like she was directing a group of Academy younglings. "What's done is done. There's no point arguing over a dead body. Did you confiscate his documents?"

Raidou nodded.

"Good. Obito, Kakashi, help me dispose of the Mist. The rest of you stay here."

When they returned, the team headed out. Kakashi travelled ahead of the group and Obito stared at his back with an uneasy frown for a while before he wordlessly leapt forward to be abreast with his teammate.

"Are you still mad?" Kurenai asked Asuma quietly.

"Of course I am. There was no reason to kill him. With Kakashi's strength he could have subdued him."

"He chose not to on purpose," Mitsuki said. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors. An enemy they let go killed Midori."

"Is it true?" Raidou asked.

"Unfortunately."

"I miss Midori," Kurenai murmured, her eyes drooping in sadness. She looked ahead to the two boys. "I can't imagine what it's like for them. Obito acts cheerful but it's like he sinks into darkness when he's alone with Kakashi."

"So it's Kakashi's fault," Asuma said.

Kurenai scowled at her childhood friend. "You're just sore that he saved your skin."

Asuma flushed. "As if."

"Nevertheless," Raidou said, "it's a problem."

Mitsuki sighed and put an end to the conversation. "There's nothing we can do. It's not something we can meddle in after all. I'll talk to Minato when we get back."

.-.-.-.

Someone was screaming.

Obito wanted to cover his ears to block out the horrible sound that seemed to echo from right within him. _Stop, stop, stop, stop_ , he begged, clenching his eyes shut and curling in on himself. His throat hurt. He was out of breath. Someone was twisting something horribly painful in his chest and the screaming just wouldn't _stop_.

His hands were warm and slick with blood. He snapped his eyes open and found himself nose to nose with a skinless face, the muscles stretching and contracting with every move of his lips and naked eyeballs. Obito reared back with a cry and plunged his kunai into the face.

He was screaming.

 _Give her back! You ungrateful son of a bitch! Give her back to us!_

 _Obito…_

He froze, his kunai buried deep in a slender neck slashed wide. His hands shook. Midori stared up at him, the life fading from her eyes. Blood gurgled from her mouth and stained everything red. Everything.

 _Why, Obito…?_

Obito bolted awake, gasping for breath and fighting to untangle himself from the blankets and the nauseous images of the dream. Throwing the futon covers aside, he doubled over and buried his face in his trembling hands, forcibly swallowing the bitter bile that rose in the back of his throat. Cold sweat soaked his shirt and plastered his hair to his forehead.

"Obito?"

He flinched and spun to the door of his room. He hadn't noticed someone opening it. The dim lights from the hallway silhouetted a slim figure and a taller, broader shadow behind her.

"Nayu-nee," he whispered hoarsely, his eyes finally adjusting to recognize his older sister dressed in her ANBU uniform.

"Are you okay? You were having a nightmare."

"I'm fine," he said, swallowing hard and straightening. A glance at the clock revealed it was well past midnight. He squinted against the light. "What's your captain doing here?"

"Nothing a pipsqueak like you needs to know," the man replied, his low voice revealing the grin he wore as he wrapped an arm around Nayu's waist.

Obito bristled, but before he could say anything, Nayu, in one lithe movement, gripped his hand, shifted her body and twisted the offending arm into an unnatural angle that had him yelping in surprise and pain.

"I'm sorry Captain, I refrain from sleeping with my superiors, much less a relative. I'd appreciate you not make silly jokes in front of my baby brother."

Obito and the captain retorted as one.

"Just who are you calling a baby?!"

"Just so you know… violence toward your superior is grounds for disciplinary action!"

Nayu looked down her nose at both of them and raised a brow. "Try me."

They both fell silent.

Obito sighed, rubbing a hand over his tired eyes but knowing sleep was far out of reach by now. "So what are you really doing here?" he asked his cousin.

"ANBU business. You know better than to ask."

"Fine, I'm going back to sleep." He flopped back onto his futon and pulled the covers over his head.

"Are you really okay?" Nayu asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine Nayu-nee. Thanks."

He eventually heard the door click shut and their footsteps fade down the hall. Then he got back up and changed, throwing a dark winter cloak over his shoulders. Soundlessly, he pulled on a pair of extra shoes and left his room through the window.

Shivering against the cold, he leapt lightly across the rooftops, soon leaving the Uchiha district and travelling over the quiet streets of Konoha. He had no destination in mind. He had only wanted to feel the wind on his skin to drive away the vestiges of the dream he saw almost every night.

Sometimes, he wanted to laugh. For the past two months he had been haunted by the same dream over and over and it still got to him every time. When would he learn not to panic? As if in answer, he suddenly saw Midori in his mind, standing over him with a victorious smirk, claiming she had learned to sleep right through nightmares long ago.

With no one in sight, Obito let himself crumble on a rooftop, gripping the railings and pressing his forehead hard against the cold metal.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he moaned under his breath, rocking back and forth as the guilt and helplessness and uncertainty convulsed in his chest.

He didn't even know who he was apologizing to – or for what. He had believed letting Iku go was the right thing to do, but now he couldn't trust himself to judge right from wrong anymore. He had stared at Kakashi like an idiot that day, seeing the facts but unable to grasp any of its significance. Kakashi had killed a spy. Was Asuma's anger justified? A part of him agreed. Kakashi was strong enough to have subdued him alive. But what if his judgement was wrong again? Who would die for his mistakes this time?

What would it do to Kakashi?

How much deeper would Kakashi wade into darkness, shouldering every mistake Obito made and growing more distant every day? It was like time had slipped back to the days after Sakumo's death, when Kakashi had shuttered himself to the world. Except this time, Obito no longer knew what he could do to draw out the light in his friend's eyes. It hurt to joke and banter these days, only working to accentuate the gaping holes in their conversations where Midori should have been. The only thing they shared now was silence and the reassurance of each other's presence.

Finding leverage by focusing on his teammate, Obito sucked in deep, shaky breaths and pulled himself up. If it eased some of his pain, then Kakashi must be feeling the same – otherwise, he would have pushed Obito far away by now.

Feeling marginally calmer, Obito looked around to find his bearings and then headed in the direction of Kakashi's apartment.

Deliberately refusing to think about the times he and Midori had snuck into their teammate's room in the past, Obito landed on the slanting roof of the building and swung down to grip the wall with chakra. Peering through the window into Kakashi's dark apartment, he found the bed crisply made and empty. His teammate was nowhere in sight and a quick search for his presence turned up nothing.

Wondering where Kakashi could have gone in the middle of the night, Obito let himself in through the broken lock his friend had never bothered to fix and looked around. The room was as neatly kept as always but it felt like the warmth of being lived in was sorely diminished since the last time he had visited.

With a sigh, Obito took off his shoes, then settled on the floor with his back against the bed and waited.

.-.-.-.

As the sky began to pale in the east, Kakashi looked down at Obito sitting in his room with his knees drawn up, face in his arms, asleep. It wasn't long before Kakashi's presence penetrated his sleep and he woke up with a start.

"I'm pretty sure there's a law against trespassing," Kakashi said.

Obito just blinked. He looked at Kakashi and then at the pre-dawn sky beyond the window and back to Kakashi. "…Morning," he mumbled.

Giving him a strange look, Kakashi sat down at the desk. "I knew you weren't sleeping but I didn't know breaking into people's houses was how you dealt with it."

"How did you know I wasn't sleeping?"

Kakashi tapped a finger against the skin under his own eye. "You look like a panda. And you're always cold. Lack of sleep."

"Says the guy who was gone all night. Where were you?"

Kakashi felt Obito's eyes on the mud stains around his ankles and his coarse hands, chapped and red from the cold. He slipped them into his pockets. "I had an itch to scratch."

Obito was silent for a long moment. "Don't tell me you've been scratching that itch every night."

"Of course not."

"Liar."

Sometimes Kakashi hated how perceptive Obito was. As much as he was certain there was a law against trespassing, he was also sure there was a silent consensus among shinobi against diluting soldier's pills to avoid sleep and keep functioning like a cyborg without suffering the physical breakdown at the end of three days. At the very least, he knew Minato would be after his head if he found out.

Nevertheless, he didn't have the leisure to be indulging in sleep. Between missions and training, he needed time to learn new techniques and refine the ones he already knew. He was beset by a sense of urgency and impatience. He needed to grow stronger. His weakness had already cost Midori her life and caused irreparable pain to countless people.

Unbidden, memories of the funeral rose to his mind. They had met Midori's family before her new grave, two identical women embracing each other as they knelt on the ground, quietly weeping. Rin had stood beside an elderly woman who had never once looked their way. Two men stood solemnly behind them, their faces pale and strained. Midori's mother had turned to them, her eyes swollen and red, tears staining her face.

Her lips had quivered as she spoke. _Why…_ _Why Midori? Why couldn't you save her? Weren't you close by? Weren't you a team?_

They were the irrational words of a broken mother half crazed after losing her only child. Kakashi knew this. He hadn't needed Midori's father to apologize for his wife's behavior. He understood. Yet the words had been carved in his heart and sank deeper with every passing day.

Kakashi was pulled from his thoughts when Obito rose to his feet and stretched with a loud groan. He would never know what his teammate had thought of his silence. The Uchiha straightened and only gave him a look that said whatever it was, he understood.

Sometimes, he hated how perceptive Obito was – and sometimes he was eternally grateful for it.

"Let's go get breakfast," Obito said with a tired smile. "I'm starving."

Kakashi looked away from the shadow of his friend's former joviality. He hated how helpless he was. "As long as it's not Ramen," he muttered.

Obito looked surprised and a small laugh shook his shoulders as they left the apartment. "Was that a joke?"

Kakashi shrugged.

The sunrise briefly lightened the sky over Konoha before it was swallowed by heavy snow clouds. Kakashi and Obito walked in silence down the streets, looking for any stores that were open and eventually settling on steaming pork buns being sold on the streets for shinobi returning from long missions or setting off at the crack of dawn.

Obito pointedly kept his eyes on his food as they ate. They strolled aimlessly down the empty streets long after they had finished and thrown away the oilpaper wrappings.

"Kakashi," Obito said at long last, his eyes on the ground. "About yesterday's –"

He broke off abruptly just before they turned a corner and ran into four Genin. Rin looked up at them with wide eyes and Gai nearly stumbled over her. Genma and Ebisu stopped behind the two and the six of them stared at each other.

"Good… morning," Rin said after a pause, her hesitant smile faltering when the two Chuunin slid their eyes away from her.

"Morning," Obito mumbled, looking at the other boys. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Night combat training," Genma replied. "You?"

Before Obito had a chance to respond, Gai leapt back with a challenging whoop and fell into a fighting stance. "Kakashi my Eternal Rival! Fight me and behold –"

"I refuse," Kakashi interrupted, but it went unnoticed.

" – my latest mastery of the Eight Celestial Gates! Releasing the First Gate of Opening!"

"Idiot!" Genma made a wild grab for his teammate but Gai shot out from under his fingers.

Kakashi and Obito jumped back a second before Gai's kick crashed into the wall beside them, sending a splintering crack across the concrete. They landed tensely, their muscles clenched and expressions frozen. Facing the aura of one unlocking their physical limits was all it took to thrust them back into the battlefield.

Fighting the Rocks.

Watching Midori die.

Being powerless to save her.

Without thought, Kakashi reached blindly for a kunai and leapt forward. Someone was shouting. He didn't care. He could feel Obito beside him – could see Midori dying.

Never. Never again.

An explosion rocked the cold morning air with a loud bang and a cloud of smoke. Kakashi came up short, blinking against the dust and taking a hesitant step back. He looked up to see Minato standing between him and Gai. His teacher's face was set in a stern mask, brows pulled into a rare frown. Kushina stood behind him in her Jounin attire, wearing an expression of concern.

"Kakashi, Obito," Minato said. He fixed his students with a look that left no room for objection. "Meet me in the training fields. You have three minutes."

* * *

To readers: If there are any scenes or situations you want to see, let me know. I'm open to hearing ideas and adding small inserts between bigger plot points.

.LinSetsu.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen:**

It began to snow just as Kakashi and Obito arrived in the training fields. The flakes were moist and heavy, melting quickly into the ground and dampening the earth. The landscape around them slowly began to emerge from the dark, coming alive like a monochrome world of white and gray.

Without a word, Kakashi unstrapped his main weapons pouch and handed it to Obito.

Obito stared at it for a moment and then took it with a sigh. "Thanks. We're in trouble aren't we?"

"If we are, it's my fault," Kakashi said quietly. His lips thinned beneath the mask as he thought about what he had done. "I wasn't thinking."

"I really wish you'd stop doing that."

Kakashi blinked in surprise at the rare edge of anger in Obito voice. "Do what?"

"Trying to take responsibility for everything. It's not your fault."

"My actions are my responsibility." Kakashi's expression hardened. "You have your hands full trying to figure out your own issues."

Obito turned on him. "What's that meant to mean?"

Kakashi regarded him in silence for a moment. "You're scared aren't you?"

Obito flinched. Kakashi didn't need to say anything more to elaborate, because he was right. Obito was scared shitless – of himself.

As silent as the snow, Minato landed before the two boys and took in the strained air between them.

"I ran into Mitsuki earlier this morning," he said. "She expressed concerns over your actions during your latest mission."

"It was –"

"Kakashi!"

Minato raised a hand to silence them both. "I'm not here to discuss what went on in the mission. That was your decision, Kakashi, and I trust it was made correctly. I'm here today to test you."

"On what?" Obito asked.

"Whether you're worthy of carrying on Midori's will."

They tensed at the unexpected words. Though the three of them had spent a considerable amount of time training together in the months since Midori's death, Minato had rarely talked about their lost teammate. Kakashi had understood it was out of consideration for their wounds. Never had he imagined their teacher would question their resolve.

"Of course we're prepared to –"

"I said 'worthy of,' Obito. I'm not questioning your abilities as shinobi. I'm testing your caliber as individuals." Minato's words were nothing but quiet puffs of white vapor yet it was as if they rang out sharply in the still morning air. "There's no point talking about it. Let your actions speak for themselves. Show me everything you have."

Still the two Chuunin hesitated.

Obito shifted uncomfortably. "I get it, sensei, but you just came back from a mission. This can wait, right?"

"You don't need to worry about me. Worry about yourselves. With the way things are now, you won't be able to land a single strike on me."

Minato's attitude left no room to question the gravity or significance of the situation. He wasn't joking. If they failed this test, they would fail Midori. Kakashi let his foot slide back a fraction over the soft ground and lowered his center. He met Obito's eyes and though their discord still lingered between them, they exchanged small nods.

Without a word, they leapt away in opposite directions, disappearing behind the veil of snow only to clash against Minato within seconds of each other. Minato's feet glided over the ground as he twisted and whirled in a flurry of movements to counter his students' rapid succession of blows. His eyes darted left and right, picking out the smallest openings and lashing out with such speed and precision that the two boys found themselves on the defense before they knew it.

"Your coordination's off," Minato said. He ducked under a high swing and rolled over Obito's kick, twisting as he rose to catch Kakashi's roundhouse meant to connect with his blind spot. He met his student's eyes. "Just who are you waiting for? Midori isn't here anymore."

Kakashi faltered for just a fraction of a second as he tried to wrench his foot loose but it was enough for Minato to hurl an elbow into his chest and send him flying. In the same movement, he shifted his head to avoid Obito's uppercut and kneed him hard, hurling him several feet into the air and tumbling to the ground in wheezing convulsions.

"Come on, get up."

The words were barely out of his mouth when a rain of shuriken descended on him. He leapt away and met Kakashi's rising kunai with his own. The metal blades grated noisily against each other before they disengaged and Obito threw himself into the fray.

A short distance away, Rin stood in a tree with one hand braced against the trunk and the other curled tensely against her side. Anxiously, she watched Kakashi and Obito clash again and again with Minato.

"You don't have to look so worried," Kushina reassured gently from where she sat beside the girl. "Minato isn't out to hurt them."

"But…"

Kushina turned back to the field. "I'm surprised he waited for so long. It's a good thing we happened to be close when we felt that surge of chakra."

Genma rapped his knuckles against Gai's head on an adjacent branch. "This is your doing idiot."

Gai crouched with his chin propped on one hand, a deep frown aligning his brows. "All I did was challenge my Rival to a duel."

"That's what I'm talking about."

"No, that might have been the trigger but this was bound to happen sooner or later," Kushina said as she let out a long sigh and trailed the three figures darting across the snow. "After Midori's death, Minato, being Minato, forbid Kakashi and Obito from engaging in any form of irrational hatred or revenge. But there's nothing more irrational than the pain and guilt of loss as it turns to anger. With nowhere to vent, they turned the brunt of that anger on themselves."

"But it wasn't their fault," Rin whispered. "Minato-sensei explained to our families how Midori died. They acted out of kindness. It wasn't their fault the Cloud turned on them."

Kushina shook her head helplessly. "That doesn't mean a thing to them."

"But how's this meant to help?" Genma asked.

"Only Minato knows for sure. All I can say is that sometimes words just aren't enough."

Ebisu crossed his arms with an aloof huff. "And getting beaten senseless is?"

"Well it's Minato they're up against," Kushina hummed proudly. Only belatedly did she notice Genma's reproachful eyes and his silent nod to Rin who now looked even more worried. Kushina winced and cleared her throat. "I mean…"

"Don't worry Rin," Gai said. "The Power of Youth will prevail."

His rock solid confidence sounded strangely encouraging to them all.

Kushina hoped he was right.

.-.-.-.

An hour into the fight, Kakashi heaved himself up from the wet ground on shaking arms and tried to breathe between wracking coughs. He had long lost count of the number of times he had been beaten down. His body ached and his vision slipped for a second. He felt more than saw Obito crash into the ground somewhere to his right.

"Is that it? That's everything you have?" Minato asked.

"You're asking… for a lot here, sensei," Obito protested between gasping breaths. He rose unsteadily to his feet and rubbed a hand over his split lip.

"Am I? Tell me Obito, is that Sharingan just for decoration?"

The blood red eyes narrowed in chagrin and dulled to black. Obito glared at the ground and gripped his goggles until his knuckles turned white. "I didn't want these eyes. Not for this price. _Never_ for this price. They're nothing but a curse! I'd carve them out myself if it would mean –" He broke off and clenched his teeth to fight back the tears that threatened to rise.

"Whether you see something as a curse or a gift is up to you. Your indecision is going to be your downfall if you don't do something about it. Take the step forward, Obito, or back down for good. No one's going to trust you if you can't trust yourself."

"How do you expect me to trust myself when my judgement got Midori killed?!"

"Because you made a promise. Carrying on someone's will doesn't let you hedge for your own reasons anymore. Your actions are no longer just your own – they reflect Midori too. Think back Obito. Was she ever as indecisive as you are now?"

Obito froze, his hand dropping to his side as he lifted his face to stare at Minato. His eyes slowly fell as the words sunk in. He was unable to speak, hardly able to think past the conflicting emotions that swallowed him whole.

Minato turned his other student. "As for you Kakashi, where's your calm? You can refine your skills all you want but they amount to nothing on their own."

"Better that than staying weak," Kakashi ground out.

"Then let me ask you this: what is strength to you?"

Kakashi paused and looked Minato straight in the eyes. "Not making the same mistakes of the past."

"Prove it."

Kakashi propelled himself forward with a burst of chakra. His hands flew through a set of standard seals, incorporating an extra monkey zodiac at the end that sent a bolt of carefully controlled lightning down his legs to spur his neural synapses. _Shunshin no jutsu_.

Minato tensed in surprise when Kakashi disappeared – and landed a solid blow to his kidney from behind. A piece of wood flew through the air from the impact, even as Minato used the Hiraishin to appear behind Kakashi and replicate the attack. Kakashi twisted in time to raise an arm to block the kick but his balance was thrown. He wasn't quick enough to replace himself with a Kawarimi before a burst of wind from Minato's hand sent him skidding across the field.

"Not making the same mistakes?" Minato asked. "Then why are you fighting on your own? What's the very first lesson I taught you?"

Kakashi staggered to his feet, his shoulders rising and falling in rapid breaths. "…teamwork."

"That's right. Teamwork is more than just physical coordination. It's rendered useless when you hide your emotions behind a wall."

"I'm not hiding," Kakashi muttered. The facts were clear. Midori was dead. She wasn't coming back. His naïveté had let that happen. He faced those cold facts every minute of every day. "I'm not hiding from anything."

"You are. I can feel it in every strike. If you want true strength, Kakashi, you need to face your own emotions first."

Kakashi shook his head. He didn't know what Minato was talking about. None of his words made sense. Emotions had nothing to do with strength.

Strength was… what?

He pushed the thoughts roughly from his mind. Now wasn't the time. He needed to focus. He needed to prove to Minato – to himself – that he was stronger and that he wouldn't fail again.

Kakashi brought his hands together in a flash of seals. _Raiton Inabikariryuu_. The pale lightning streaked across the ground and crashed into Minato. Kakashi didn't bother watching his teacher counter the attack with a flare of his Rasengan. Using another jolt of electricity to spur his muscles into quicker movement, Kakashi skidded to a halt at Minato's feet and shot up.

His fist met thin air as Minato disappeared. Without pause, he threw himself forward to avoid Minato's attack from behind and kicked off the ground with another Shunshin. Twice more he managed to take Minato's back, but each time, his teacher slipped through his attacks.

Why? Why couldn't he land a single hit? Had he achieved nothing in the past two months? Had he already been failing Midori before this test had even begun?

Kakashi clenched his teeth in frustration and threw his entire weight behind his attacks. One after another, they were skirted, blocked, countered, dodged, and still he forced his body to continue. Feinting one way, striking another, using kunai and shuriken, Kawarimi, Shunshin, Raiton, anything. He used everything he knew and wasn't even aware of his own desperate snarls tearing through his throat.

One hit. That was all he needed. One hit and he would know he was right. Strength was –

"Stop trying to run away Kakashi!" Minato shouted sharply.

Kakashi flinched. His fist was knocked aside and in a blur of motion, Minato broke past all his defenses as if they were nothing. A heel slammed into his stomach and bile rushed up his throat as he was thrown back. The ground flew up at him and the self-disgust that churned in his chest had him wishing the impact would smash his bones. It would serve him right. If he could, he wanted to smash _himself_ to pieces.

Yet instead of the cold ground, he felt his back suddenly collide with something soft and warm. That was all he registered before they both went tumbling head over heels into the slush.

" _Ow_ …" Obito groaned from where he landed beneath Kakashi. "That was meant to go so much smoother I swear."

Kakashi gasped for breath from his failing lungs even as he tried to lift himself up from his friend. Somehow, he managed to squeeze out a croak. "What are you…?"

Obito grinned up at him. "Sorry I'm late Kakashi. Got a bit caught up in my world."

Kakashi stared, his own thoughts forgotten. Something was different. Obito looked… like Obito – the real Obito, before Midori's death. No, that wasn't quite right. The pain and remorse were still there, but his eyes were bright with confidence. They looked straight at Kakashi, unafraid and unflinching.

"Listen," Obito said quietly, oblivious to Kakashi's bewilderment as he sat up and brought his face close. "I have a plan."

Minato watched his students exchange a few short words and felt the first glimmers of hope. He had feared it was too late. Kakashi had withdrawn so far into his shell, losing sight of everything that mattered while Obito was almost consumed between his conflicting instinct to trust himself and the crippling fear of making another mistake.

He knew that to pull just one out of their darkness was pointless. As young as they were, whatever path they decided on, it would take all of their combined efforts to pull each other through. He didn't want to give up. He didn't want to see them broken. Silently, he willed them to stand. _Help them stand up Midori. Please._

"Sound good?" Obito asked, getting to his feet and brushing off the snowflakes that clung to his clothes. He extended a hand. Kakashi stared at it for a long moment before slowly reaching for it.

"One minute," Kakashi confirmed. He pushed the remnants of his frustration to the back of his mind to deal with later.

Obito nodded. His eyes came alive in a swirl of red and black as he activated the Sharingan. "Let's roll."

Kakashi didn't need to be told twice. He spun and threw his hands to the ground. _Doton Doryuusou_. The earth under Minato's feet erupted into spears. When he used the Hiraishin to avoid being impaled, Kakashi repeated the technique twice more before switching to lightning attacks.

He began to count back from sixty.

At fifty, he created a Kage Bunshin and engaged Minato in close-range combat.

At forty, Obito joined the fight with two handfuls of shuriken. Their teacher vaulted back from them, only to come up against Kakashi as his replica shot out from the ground.

From thirty to ten, Obito and Kakashi tackled Minato from every direction in a rapid exchange of blows even as they sought eye contact and exchanged a series of obscure hand signals.

At eight, Obito feinted a spinning roundhouse and released a Goukakyuu from point blank range. Minato disappeared and came up behind Obito with a backhand that struck him clean in the neck, sending him up in a cloud of smoke.

At six, Kakashi tore up the ground with a blinding flash of lightning.

At three, Minato spun as he felt a presence behind him – and froze when he came face to face with Midori. She lunged and he used the Hiraishin out of pure reflex to avoid striking her, even as his mind caught up with the logic that it as a Henge.

At two, Obito scoured the field, his Sharingan spinning furiously. "Ox!" he shouted even as he hurled a kunai in that very direction, right where Minato appeared.

At one, Minato jerked his head to the side to avoid the weapon. The moment he moved, Kakashi slammed his fist into Minato's face from the other side, sending him stumbling several steps.

At zero, Kakashi's three other replicas spread out across the field went up in smoke. Minato remained where he was, a faint patch of red rising over his cheekbone where Kakashi's fist had landed.

At long last, a satisfied smile slowly broke out across his face.

.-.-.-.

Gai whooped.

Rin breathed a sigh of relief.

The senbon stick between Genma's teeth clattered forgotten down the tree. "I can't believe it. They really did it."

"How?" Ebisu asked. "No one can predict the Yellow Flash's Hiraishin."

"Kakashi was prepared to attack wherever he appeared," Kushina observed. "Minato's Hiraishin marks emit the faintest hint of chakra, which Obito must have identified with his Sharingan. He communicated their positions to Kakashi."

"How?" Ebisu asked again. "There's nothing in that field to act as coordinates."

"Look at those shuriken Obito threw. They may look scattered but you can trace a zodiac cycle in there."

"That's it?" Genma muttered. "They barely had a second and that's all they needed to coordinate their actions?"

Kushina smiled. "That's teamwork for you. They'll be okay now."

"How can you tell?" Rin asked.

The kunoichi shrugged. "Just a hunch. If they can work together like that, their foundation's solid. Sometimes you just have to let everything loose to mend a few breaches."

Gai nodded vigorously. "It's the Unbridled Clash of Naked Souls."

"Somebody please stop this idiot," Genma groaned.

Kushina laughed as she hopped off the branch and made her way out into the field.

.-.-.-.

Obito was grinning from ear to ear as he walked over to Minato and Kakashi. He raised a palm and his eyes narrowed fondly behind the goggles. "As Midori would say, _piece of cake_."

Wordlessly, Kakashi clapped his hand against his friend's.

"You surprised me with that Henge," Minato said.

Obito snickered. "I figured it was something she would have done. We needed that extra half second to throw you off and make sure you used to the Hiraishin."

"You got me there. Your use of the Sharingan was spot on too. Well done." He paused. "Obito, you're not always going to make the right decisions – no one can – but don't ever be afraid to trust yourself. Instincts come from experience and yours in particular are nurtured by kindness. To distrust yourself is to turn your back on everything you believe. Face your fears and overcome them. Take a leaf from Midori's book."

Obito smiled. "She was never afraid of anything."

Minato nodded and then turned to look at his silent student. "Kakashi, there's no denying you've improved in every area of combat and your modified Shunshin is something to admire. But what makes you stronger than anything is the bond you share with your team. I'm telling you this because I know what you fight for. Shutting out the people you want to protect isn't the way to protect them."

Kakashi opened to his mouth to say something, but no words rose to mind. He understood what his teacher was saying but the words collided against a familiar blank wall. He bit his lip and looked away. Walls. His life seemed to be full of them.

He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts when Obito wrapped an arm around his shoulder, making him look up in surprise. His friend was grinning.

"Don't worry, sensei, I've got this one."

Kakashi scowled. "What do you mean 'this one'?"

"It means you're not alone, genius."

"What…" He was at a loss for words again.

Minato smiled briefly before growing serious. "Listen well, both of you. Carrying on your comrade's will is no easy task. It's not the same as just remembering them. You're carrying their life and dreams on your shoulders after all. There will be days when you want to throw it all away. There will also be days when that connection is the only thing that will keep you going. You two are lucky to have each other. Learn to help and lean on one another. And if all else fails, promise to come see me. Okay?"

The boys nodded and Minato was relieved to see strength and resolution back in their eyes. _Thank you Midori. You can rest assured now_. He could almost see her standing between them once again, her face bright with a confident smile. The team was back.

"Kakashi my Rival!"

The three turned to see Kushina and the four Genin approaching. Minato shared a smile with his wife and watched in amusement as Kakashi tried to first turn down the challenge Gai threw at him and then convince him to postpone it to a later date. He laughed when Kushina made it a point to yank Kakashi and Obito's ears for bruising him until Obito was yelping in pain and Kakashi mumbled an apology. All the while, he was aware of Rin hanging a little behind the group and started to intervene before deciding against it. He trusted Kakashi and Obito could work it out now.

It wasn't long before Genma dragged his team away, saying they needed to rest before their next mission. Rin hesitated before trailing after them and Obito and Kakashi also took their leave. Minato watched their disappearing figures and a subconscious frown tugged at his brows as he heaved a heavy sigh. The snow had stopped but left the air feeling even colder.

"What's wrong?" Kushina asked.

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm being too hard on them," he said. "To be honest, a part of me regrets telling them about carrying on people's wills. They're so young. It's too early for them to carry that burden."

"They've been on the frontlines for years Minato. They've killed and seen people be killed. They've experienced death and loss and now they're figuring out how to overcome it. You're not being hard on them. You're teaching them how to live in this violent world."

Minato closed his eyes and pulled her close. "Even so, I'm a terrible person. Every day, I look at them and as a shinobi, I couldn't be prouder of what they've accomplished. But as a human being, I'm horrified at what they're capable of doing and afraid of what they'll be forced to do in the future. I look at them and can't help but hope that when our children are born the world will be a better place."

Kushina wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I hope so too, but it would be a world built on their sacrifices."

"I know. That's what I hate."

.-.-.-.

Later that afternoon, Kakashi and Obito passed under the large red _torii_ gate into Konoha's cemetery for the first time since Midori's death. The weather had recovered over the course of the day and the sun's last rays lit up the sky in a warm gradient of red and orange. A bird took flight, shaking a thin layer of snow from a branch onto the path that led to their teammate's grave.

They paused when they saw Rin standing before it with her hands held together in prayer. She looked up as they neared and smiled in greeting.

"Are you recovered from this morning?" she asked.

"Yeah," Obito replied, glancing down at the grave. Fresh flowers were placed in a clean vase and the gentle scent of incense rose into the air. "Do you come here every day?"

"Whenever I can," Rin said. "Hospital duties are never predictable."

"We didn't bring anything," Kakashi mumbled, feeling belatedly foolish. He'd never visited his father's grave and hardly knew the proper etiquette.

Rin shook her head. "You brought yourselves. That must mean more than anything to Midori."

Obito smiled softly at their teammate's name inscribed on the stone. "Sorry we're late. We got a bit lost on the road of life."

"Don't be mad," Kakashi added. "We'll bring some sweets next time."

Rin chuckled. Kakashi glanced at her and then dropped his gaze back to the grave.

"Does it hurt to look at my face?" she asked.

"No –" Obito hurried to reassure her, but she shook her head with a sad, yet understanding smile.

"It's okay. I know we looked alike. Aunt Matsune can't look at me yet either."

Kakashi took a breath, steeled himself and turned to face Rin. "We kept looking for Midori in you and that wasn't right. I'm sorry."

Rin blinked in surprise.

"Come to think of it, Midori was never as gentle as you and that totally showed on her face," Obito said, meeting her eyes with an apologetic grin.

Kakashi raised a brow. "She's going to come back and haunt you for that during the festival of the dead."

Obito widened his eyes in horror. "Crap. I take it back Midori!"

Rin laughed and a soft blush rose to her cheeks. "Do you know why Midori became such a tomboy in the first place?"

"You make it sound like she was once an angel," Obito muttered.

"I reserve the right to say I told you so," Kakashi said under his breath.

Rin giggled behind her hand. "Maybe not an angel but she was a lot gentler than you might imagine. That changed when I got robbed and hurt one day at the market when we were little. Midori nearly destroyed the entire market trying to chase down the thieves."

Obito's eyes widened in disbelief. "I remember that incident! That was _Midori's_ doing?! It was before the Academy."

Rin nodded. "After that, she stopped playing nice and would never forgive anyone who hurt children."

"That sounds just like her," Kakashi said. It also meant Midori had always been trying to protect Rin, and now that she was gone, the task was passed down to them. This time, he vowed silently, they wouldn't fail. No matter what.

Obito was shaking his head in amazement. "She never said a word about that."

"She told me not to tell you. She said she enjoyed making you quake in your shoes."

"I wasn't quaking," Obito huffed indignantly. He turned to the grave "I wasn't, you hear?"

Rin smiled at them both. "She really loved the team. You meant everything to her. I'm so glad you were able to come here today."

Obito turned serious and met her eyes. "We gave Midori our promise and we're going to see it through. We promise you that."

"I know you will." She hesitated a second and then reached out take each of their hands. Her touch was light and soft. "I promise too, to work hard to become a field medic and help as many people as I can. I may not have Midori's combat skills, but I'll be right behind you on the frontlines."

"We'll be counting on you," Obito said. Kakashi nodded.

Rin smiled broadly and then stepped back. "I should go. My shift's coming up at the hospital." Then as if remembering something, she asked, "Have you seen Asuka lately? He was worried about you."

Obito raised a brow. "Asuka worries?"

"Of course he does." She gave him a reprimanding look. "Can I tell him that we met and talked?"

"Sure, why not. Also tell him we're due for a sparring session before the Elders start complaining again."

"They don't like him studying to become a medic do they?" Rin asked with a frown.

Obito shrugged. "We're a warrior clan after all."

Rin looked like she had an opinion on that, but she kept silent. With a final goodbye, she turned and walked away.

The two boys turned back to the gravestone and shared a moment of silence.

It was Obito who spoke first. "This morning when we were fighting Minato-sensei, I kept thinking: if one of us had died instead, what would Midori have done? How would she have reacted?"

Kakashi gave it some thought, then shook his head. "I can't see her as anything other than… well, _her_."

Obito snorted. "Neither could I. The more I thought about it, the only thing I was certain of was that she wouldn't have done what either of us did. Knowing her, I bet she would have cried her eyes out and then gotten right back onto her feet."

Midori had always been free with her emotions. It was something Kakashi had never experienced, let alone tried to put into practice. Minato's words still troubled him. He had never made a conscious decision to pull away from Obito and in truth had hardly been aware of it until his teacher had made it an issue. How was he to grapple with something so vague and intangible?

"I'm still scared of making a mistake," Obito continued. "Or worse, making the wrong call and getting more people killed. But I'm done dragging my feet. I'm more afraid of Midori coming back to haunt me for being chicken."

"She would." Kakashi wondered what would make her haunt _him_ and still couldn't find an answer. The damn walls.

"You bet." Obito chuckled before sobering again. "So I'm going to move forward and take a leaf from her book like sensei said. I'm going to carry the full weight of her will and fight for Rin and the children she wanted to protect." He tipped his head to look at Kakashi. "Will you lend me a hand?"

"Of course I will. We made that promise together." He blinked in surprise when the weight in his chest suddenly seemed to lift. As if Obito's simple words had knocked down a wall from the other side.

"It's our new kind of teamwork," Obito said. "And I'm warning you upfront, Kakashi. If I'm not allowed to be chicken anymore, you're not allowed to be such an introvert either."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Obito just grinned and lifted a fist. Kakashi loosened his expression for what felt like the first time in months. He mirrored the gesture and lightly bumped his knuckles against Obito's.

"Here we go, Midori," Obito said. "Watch us."

* * *

Translations:  
 _Shunshin_ \- body flicker  
 _Kawarimi_ \- body replacement  
 _Hiraishin_ \- flying thunder god  
 _Inabikariryuu_ \- lightning dragon  
 _Doryuusou_ \- earth spears

I'm a little conflicted about fight sequences. Too much bogs the writing down and too little doesn't get the point across. If you have any opinions on whether you liked the level of description in this chapter (or if have other preferences), let me know.

Thanks for reading.

.LinSetsu.


	16. Part III: Jounin Exam, Chapter 16

A/N: If anyone has read or is planning to read the old version after this, please be aware that I'm reshuffling the order of some of the major plot points.

Now then, on we go to a brand new arc.

* * *

 **Part III: Jounin Exam**

 **Chapter Sixteen:**

"Say that again you filthy traitor's brat!"

The Jounin's voice echoed sharply in the small briefing room. Kakashi stared unblinking at the glaring man in his twenties with a pinched face pale with suppressed fury. What the White Fang had anything to do with this conversation was beyond him, but he absently noted it was the first time in years that anyone had slandered his father's name to his face. Not that it would change his response.

"I'll say it as many times as you want: your strategy was worthless."

Obito huffed derisively beside him. "If you think it's okay to sacrifice the decoy, then _you're_ the traitor – and an idiot. You can't blame us for not following your orders."

"The team was under _my_ command!" the Jounin roared. "You –"

" _Alright_ Taichi, just stop screaming," Shikaku groaned from where he sat behind a narrow desk. He sighed loudly and rubbed a hand over the two tender scars newly carved into the side of his face. A Chuunin sat beside him taking mission report notes with such fastidiousness that he seemed oblivious to the commotion caused by the other occupants in the room. They were a mix-and-match team of six, freshly returned from a reconnaissance mission in the south.

The expedition had certainly produced valuable information and that was really all Shikaku was concerned about. Then again, things never seemed to go so easily. The skirmish the team had run into on their way home had all but fractured the team in two. On the one hand were Taichi and his teammate, a fellow Jounin. On the other were Minato's two students, a teenage Chuunin and an Uchiha medic-in-training.

Shikaku sighed again. He had had a bad feeling about this bizarre team when he had organized them in the first place but he hadn't been able to pass up the probability of their success. And they _had_ succeeded, it was just…

"It was my fault I let my guard down," the teenager mumbled. "I didn't notice how many enemies there were and…"

" _They_ knew," Obito said, nodding to the two older shinobi. "They still ordered you to be the bait."

"And if you hadn't disobeyed us, we could have killed them all instead of letting half run away," Taichi snapped.

"That wasn't our mission," Kakashi said. He raised a brow. "I thought you knew… captain."

"You little –!"

"Taichi!" Shikaku barked, stopping the Jounin from grabbing Kakashi by the neck. Grumbling under his breath about troublesome impromptu teams, he rose from his seat and walked around the desk. "I get where you're both coming from. Coordination depends on team members following orders and fulfilling each of their roles. Then again, Uchiha Obito and Hatake acted to save their teammate. Long story short, no one was hurt and the mission was a success. I'm inclined to leave it at that and let the matter drop. _However_ –"

He lifted a hand when Taichi began to protest and fixed the two young Chuunin with an irritated look. Obito had the grace to avert his eyes with the knowledge that he was in trouble.

"This is the third time in as many weeks that you two have disobeyed your team leaders," Shikaku went on. "We have ranks and hierarchy for a reason, you know. I understand you're capable but at this rate you're only going to set a bad example for other teams."

"But you have to agree that strategy was pretty horrible," Obito quipped.

Shikaku shrugged, unimpressed. "If you think you can do better, then hurry up and climb the ranks. In the meantime, stand straight and take it like a man." He glanced at Taichi. "One blow. Don't break anything."

Obito sighed in resignation and lifted his chin in defiance even as he planted his feet firmly on the ground. Kakashi slipped his hands into his pockets and stood in silence.

Looking hardly satisfied, Taichi nevertheless strode forward and backhanded Obito with enough force to send him stumbling into the wall. Drawing his fist back, he then swung it into Kakashi's stomach and watched in disdain as the expressionless look on the boy's face fall away in pain as he dropped to a knee and gasped for breath.

Taichi turned to the other silent Uchiha and the Chuunin. "Next!"

Asuka glowered in irritation. This was why nothing good came from being with Obito. He _knew_ he shouldn't have listened to his cousin when they had dragged him from his position. Just because they could get away with it for being talented, didn't mean he and the average Chuunin could too.

As the foul tempered Jounin strode up to him, Asuka threw a resentful glare at his cousin, only to have his vision filled with the sight of Obito's back, protecting him from Taichi. Asuka blinked in surprise and was halfway to voicing his protest when he saw Kakashi slipping in front of the other Chuunin and the sheer stupidity of their actions left him speechless.

"It was our decision," Obito rasped. "These two had nothing to do with it."

Taichi gave a scornful sneer and raised his fist again. "Fair enough."

Shikaku sighed one final time as he rubbed a hand over his eyes and shook his head, listening to two more thuds reverberating through the room. He almost felt sorry for Minato. Almost.

.-.-.-.

"Asshole," Obito hissed, rubbing a hand over his split lips and swollen cheek as he, Kakashi and Asuka walked down the street from the administrative building. The skin around Kakashi's left eye was quickly turning into a blotchy red from Taichi's second hit.

"You must be idiots," Asuka said. "I never asked you to cover for me."

"Yeah, well, you never asked to be dragged in this either," Obito muttered, and then winced. "Can you fix this? I can't talk properly."

"I can, but I won't. It's a waste of chakra."

"Fine, I'll go find Rin. She probably has better bedside manners anyway."

Asuka growled and pushed Obito none too gently against a wall, then brought his hands to hover over his mouth and cheek. They glowed a soft green and quickly began to mend the broken skin.

Obito stared curiously at his cousin's face. The two of them didn't look much alike. Asuka's face was leaner and his eyes set deeper in his face, but it was rare to see his look of perpetual displeasure replaced with such single-minded concentration. "So you really can perform medical ninjutsu."

"It's all I've been practicing for the past three years."

"If only you'd put some of that time and skill into practicing Katon techniques, then the Clan wouldn't treat you so badly."

Asuka glowered as he stepped away. "I'm not doing this for the Clan. I hate everything they stand for."

"So what _are_ you doing it for?" Kakashi asked. He stood with his shoulder leaning against the wall, idly watching the people in the street as he waited. Asuka glanced at him and wordlessly reached out to his eye, but Kakashi drew back. "I'm fine."

"I don't care," Asuka shot back. Kakashi hesitated, then shrugged and made no further protest. As Asuka raised his hand and slowly reduced the swelling, he spoke again. "I hate the violence in the Uchiha Clan. I feel better when I'm healing someone than trying to hurt them. I'm not as good as Rin but as long as she believes I'm doing some good, I won't even care if the Clan spits on me."

Kakashi considered his words for a moment. "So you're doing it for Rin?"

Asuka stiffened.

"He's not doing it _for_ Rin, he's in _love_ with Rin," Obito drawled from where he was crouched, his hands locked behind his head.

In hindsight, Kakashi thought, it was really quite impressive. Without a word or sound of warning, Asuka spun with surprising speed and kicked Obito square in the face before darting away over the rooftops. A belated "Go to hell!" echoed down to where Obito was left sprawling on the cold ground with a look of stunned disbelief on his face – and his lip split cleanly open again.

Kakashi stared at him with a raised brow. "He's an Uchiha alright."

Obito scowled as he pushed himself upright and gingerly touched his bleeding lip. " _Really?_ "

"Why is it something to hide anyway?" Kakashi reached down to pull Obito to his feet. "Anyone can tell he's obsessed with Rin."

"That's what I thought," Obito grumbled as he dusted himself off. "Why the hell doesn't he use that kind of speed when we're sparring?"

Kakashi lifted a hand to his eye and found it fully healed. "His medical training could have improved his chakra control a lot more than he realizes. Isn't that enough for the Clan to acknowledge him?"

Obito sighed and shook his head. "Doubt it. I've been trying to convince him to work on his combat skills for the next Chuunin exam but all he does is complain that it's a waste of his time."

"They're going to a hold an exam?"

"There's a rumor of a single-day event just for Konoha at the beginning of the New Year. It's been over two years since the last one. Can't blame guys like Genma and Asuma for getting impatient."

"I suppose."

"Which reminds me. Let's go see Minato-sensei. I want to ask him something."

Without waiting for a reply, Obito scaled the wall and disappeared over the roofs. Kakashi shook his head in resignation and followed.

.-.-.-.

"You really don't know the definition of privacy do you?" Kakashi asked, eyeing his friend who was peering into Minato and Kushina's living room from the window.

"Privacy? You mean that fairytale thing younger siblings are fated to be deprived of the moment they're born?"

"Also known as the right to be free from unauthorized surveillance and intrusion, but yes, privacy."

"Sounds absolutely fantastic," Obito deadpanned. He carefully extended a thread of chakra to the lock and was about to give it a deft twist when a voice sounded below them from the street.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

They looked down to see Kushina in a travelling cloak with a bag slung over her shoulder and a basket of groceries in her arms. She grinned up at them. "Unless of course you want to be teleported miles out of the Village by Minato's trap."

Obito's eyes grew wide and he snapped his hand back. "Seriously? He has his own house rigged?"

"For good reason," Kakashi said. He jumped down to land beside Kushina and noted the wear around the hem of her cloak. "Are you returning from a mission?"

She nodded. "We just got back. What about you? I heard you were on a surveillance mission."

"We returned this morning."

Obito came down to join them. "Do you know where sensei is?"

"He should be coming home any minute now. Come on up. You haven't eaten yet have you? I'll make us all lunch."

"I'm –" _fine_ was what Kakashi had meant to say but one frigid look from Kushina silenced him.

"You aren't back on your soldier's pill diet again are you?" she asked slowly, her voice nothing short of menacing.

Kakashi froze and took an instinctive step back. Soon after their trial by fire several weeks ago, Minato had casually asked about his student's eating habits with an unamused smile that told Kakashi he knew exactly what those habits were. When Kakashi had refused to answer, Minato had turned to Kushina – and all hell had broken loose.

Obito snickered. "Let's be honest here Kakashi. I'm starving."

Kakashi turned his eyes away and mumbled, "I guess I could eat."

"Good!" A bright smile lit up Kushina's face as she led them up the stairs. "By the way, I found an old scroll with a list of Uzumaki sealing techniques. Minato mentioned you were looking for one that could neutralize a tailed beast right?"

Kakashi looked up in interest. Their close-call encounter with the Eight Tails Jinchuuriki in Lightning Country had convinced them that they needed some sort of plan for the future if they ever came across one of the Bijuu again. Having seen Kushina's mastery of her clan's sealing techniques, they had turned to their teacher for advice.

"Are there any that doesn't require a bloodline?" Obito asked.

"Most of them don't," Kushina explained, "but the more powerful they get, the more effective they'll be when performed by two or more shinobi with harmonized chakra. Minato thinks the two of you will be able to integrate your chakra enough to make it work." She grinned over her shoulder as she unlocked the front door to the house. "If you can master one of the techniques, I'll let you try it out on the Kyuubi."

"Oh hell no," Obito blurted. "You're scary enough as you are now, there's no way –"

"Scary?" Kushina repeated softly. Her face was frozen in a smile.

Obito paled. "No, wait, I mean…"

It was too late. Kakashi deftly stepped out of harm's way as Kushina grabbed Obito by his wide collar and single handedly threw him over her shoulder. He landed with a pained yowl in the entrance hall. "Just who do you think you're calling scary?!" she yelled, slipping into her peculiar 'dattebane' habit.

Kakashi watched the fiery kunoichi snapping at Obito and wondered what it was about his teammate that made him such an easy prey to just about everyone. Aside from training and actual combat, he had never seen Obito raise a fist to anyone. If anything, he felt Obito was more the pacifist than Asuka.

Arguing loudly with one another, Kushina and Obito soon disappeared into the living room. Kakashi was left in the entrance with two pairs of carelessly discarded shoes. Absently, he nudged them into order and slowly slipped out of his own footwear. He stepped up onto the wooden floor and then stopped.

Minato and Kushina's house was as warm and welcoming as ever. He had been inside numerous times and it was a place he had never disliked. Yet, something had always kept him from feeling completely comfortable, as if telling him he didn't belong in a place where even the walls seemed to reflect and radiate the love shared by its inhabitants. Even in his earliest memories, the Hatake household had felt more muted and stoic, a sharp contrast from this all-encompassing warmth.

"What's the matter Kakashi?"

With a start, he turned to find his teacher in the doorway, those clear blue eyes looking straight at him with a questioning tilt of his head.

"Sensei…" He resisted the urge to fidget. "Welcome… home." Such everyday words felt alarmingly foreign on his tongue.

"Thanks, it's good to be home." Minato smiled easily, as if finding his students in his house was nothing out of the norm. He gave Kakashi a nudge and moved further into the entrance. "Let's close the door before Kushina gets mad."

As if on cue, the red haired kunoichi poked her head around the corner. "Welcome home, Minato. Kakashi, could you go supervise Obito's cooking?"

"He _can't_ cook," Kakashi said.

"My point exactly," Kushina laughed.

Left with no choice, he slipped past Kushina and hurried into the kitchen to find Obito already brandishing a knife over the middle of a potato still covered in dirt.

"Hold it. What are you doing?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm following orders." Obito didn't even look up. "The almighty lady said to cut these into quarters."

"Unwashed and unpeeled?"

Obito finally glanced over his shoulder with a blank look. "Huh?"

Kakashi sighed, taking the knife from his friend's hand and dumping the potatoes into the sink. "We've established that you can't peel potatoes…" His words trailed into silence as memories rose in the back of his mind. Midori had still been with them the last time they had stood in this kitchen. She had given Obito hell when he had reduced a potato to a quarter of its size just by peeling it.

"I remember," Obito said, his lips quirking in a dim, nostalgic smile.

"Sensei's back," Kakashi said in an effort to change the subject. He began to wash the vegetables in the basket and kept his eyes on the running water. "What did you want to ask him?"

"About the Jounin exam."

Kakashi looked up in surprise. "You mean the promotion? The 'exam' was abolished years ago."

"With a few exception." It was Minato who replied from the doorway. "Why am I not surprised you know about this Obito?" His voice was light but the same levity was nowhere to be found in his expression.

Obito shrugged. "I figured there had to be _some_ sort of loophole in the minimum age requirement for a promotion."

Kushina came up behind Minato and frowned. "The exam was abolished because it was too dangerous. You can't imagine the number of Chuunin who ended up leaving the shinobi life because of what they went through in the exam."

"Did you take it sensei?" Kakashi asked.

"I was one of the last. It wasn't a pleasant experience, I can tell you that."

"The minimum age requirement for a promotion is 12 years old," Kushina said. "You only have to wait another year."

"A year's too long," Obito said. "Besides, who would petition to follow the orders of a kid? Isn't that the whole point of the exam?"

Minato sighed reluctantly. "True. It's to test individual abilities to silence any misgivings other Jounin may have that are rooted in bias or age. Are you asking about the exam because of your recent clashes with your team leaders? I told you, working with your superiors is an important –"

"I know sensei, and believe me, I tried. But even a first year Chuunin can come up with better strategies than some of those stuck-up Jounin."

"I agree," Kakashi said. He was beginning to find the conversation and its potential outcome highly interesting. "If those Jounin are a reflection of the promotion, I'd much rather take the exam."

" _I_ was a promotion," Kushina interjected with a wry smile. Kakashi promptly fell silent.

"You're nothing like Taichi," Obito said. "Shikaku-san told us climbing the ranks was the only way we could complain without getting beat up by the likes of him."

Minato's expression immediately darkened and he dropped his eyes to Obito's injured lips. Noticing the displeasure on his teacher's face, Obito quickly waved his hands to dispel the misunderstanding.

"This was Asuka. Well Taichi first, then Asuka second."

Minato blinked. "Asuka?"

"As in, Asuka healed it and then kicked it open again. I swear, that sulking punk is stronger than he thinks he is. I mean why doesn't he – No, wait, that isn't the point." He scrambled to get the conversation back on track as Minato's brow arched higher and Kushina did her best to hold back her amusement – with little success. Flapping his hands in agitation, he turned to his teammate. "Kakashi!"

"What?"

"Say something."

Kakashi cocked his head in thought. "Being his cousin, I think you should have had a better understanding of what his explosive triggers are. Not to mention your guard was much too loose even considering we're in the Village and –"

"That's _not_ what I meant!"

"Oh. Then did you mean your tendency to talk without thinking and derailing yourself from –"

Obito clapped a hand over Kakashi's mask with an audible pop and it made Kushina burst into outright laughter. Minato looked torn between the gravity of what his students were asking and the sheer amusement of their antics.

Kakashi pried the hand loose with an irritated grunt and then turned back to Minato. "His terrible persuasion skills aside, I agree with Obito. If push comes to shove we won't be able to protect anyone if we remain Chuunin."

Minato regarded his students for a long moment with eyes that looked almost pained.

With a jolt, it reminded Kakashi of the night his father had died. Sakumo had looked at him with that very same expression. Why? What was bringing those memories back? He felt his hands curl into fists. He didn't want to think Taichi's words had affected him so acutely. _Father was weak_ , he told himself. Minato was nothing like his father.

So why was he suddenly consumed with a sinking feeling as if he had just let his teacher down?

"Sensei…?"

"Alright," Minato said at the same time, his voice carrying over Kakashi's hesitant question. It jarred Kakashi from his thoughts and grounded him back in the here and now. His teacher went on, seemingly unaware of his silent breath of relief. "First, though, I need you to understand what it means to take the exam. You'll be assessed by ANBU operatives in an individual, weeklong test. The Jounin exam isn't about winning or losing. It's about surviving. Their orders are to fail you and break you and the ANBU show no mercy. Are you still prepared to take it?"

Kakashi and Obito nodded curtly.

"Alright," Minato said again, his voice heavy but firm. "I'll bring it up with Hokage-sama."

"Thanks, sensei," Obito said. "We won't let you down."

Minato gave his students a troubled look. "I really hope to see that confidence at the end of all this."

"Minato looked like a ghost for days after the exam," Kushina mused.

"Don't remind me." He shuddered. "I still have nightmares about it."

Kakashi and Obito shared a look but it was too late to back down now. Not that they had any intention of doing so.

"Well then, if you're set on taking the exam, you better start eating well," Kushina said. "Were you in time to save the vegetables Kakashi?"

He held up a healthy potato over Obito's protests.

"Good! Okay, then…" Rolling up her sleeves, Kushina fired off a list of tasks for each of them and the kitchen soon came alive with the clamor of cooking, laughter and the occasional groan of frustration from Obito.

.-.-.-.

Three days later, Minato was walking down the corridor to the Hokage's office when he came face to face with his old friend and classmate.

"Yo Minato," Shikaku greeted with a lazy wave of his hand. "What brings you here on your day off?"

Minato's lips twisted at the irony. "You."

"Huh?"

"Did you really have to go around giving my students weird ideas?"

Shikaku was silent for a moment but his brilliant mind quickly connected the dots. "They knew about the exam?"

"You bet."

"Damn." Shikaku barked with laughter. "Some kids you've got."

"It really isn't a laughing matter Shikaku."

"Hey, at least they're motivated. Remember us? We tried to stay Chuunin for as long as possible just to avoid responsibility."

"You tried to fail your exam," Minato reminded with accusatory eyes.

Shikaku scratched the back of his neck with a wistful sigh. "Too bad it didn't work. But all things considered, it's not a bad idea. We could definitely use more Jounin. We lost too many this year."

"There's no guarantee they'll pass."

Amusement lifted Shikaku's brows. "You wouldn't be here if you thought they wouldn't pass. Am I wrong?"

Minato sighed. "I guess not."

"Has the Sandaime agreed?"

"I'm on my way to hear his answer now."

Shikaku patted Minato's shoulder as he walked passed. "Don't worry, they'll be fine."

"You're just saying that aren't you?"

Shikaku laughed softly. "Who knows." He waved his hand over a shoulder and disappeared down the hall.

As Minato continued on his way, he wondered if his friend had known how conflicted he was. He couldn't count the number of times he had thought of ordering his students to wait until they were older. Yet every time, he reminded himself of _why_ they were doing this. It wasn't for themselves. It was to protect others. No one was allowed to deny them that.

 _Believe in them_. Kushina's words from late last night whispered in his mind. Schooling his face, he looked up at the door to the Hokage's office and knocked.

Hiruzen and Danzo were sitting across from each other on the set of couches to the side but the Sandaime rose as Minato entered and beckoned him to the desk. He picked up the two sheets of paper laid on its surface and looked over the profiles.

"You requested to hold a Jounin exam for Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito, correct?"

Minato nodded. "They've shown exceptional progress over the years and have proven themselves time and again of having what it takes to become a Jounin. I do not believe their age should prevent them from being given the opportunity."

Hiruzen grunted. "I can see why you would recommend them, but I question the wisdom of taking four shinobi and a rotation of ANBU out of routine missions for an entire week. It's been enough of a challenge to organize the Chuunin exam without weakening our defenses."

"Forgive me, Sandaime, but I believe there is nothing safer than having a handful of ANBU scattered outside the Village walls," Minato reasoned.

"If need be, the Root will be glad to lend a hand," Danzo said over his shoulder.

Hiruzen frowned. "That won't be necessary."

"If you say so," Danzo murmured. "In either case, I'm also in favor of holding the exam. It's best to test children when they're young to avoid wasting time investing in fruitless cases."

Minato narrowed his eyes in distaste but kept them fixed on the desk.

"That's enough, Danzo," Hiruzen said. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop thinking of shinobi as pure assets?"

"That's the very definition of a shinobi." There was an edge to Danzo's voice. "I'm telling you, your naiveté is going to lose us this war."

"We'll continue that discussion later." Sandaime turned his attention back to Minato. "Very well. I approve of the exam. I'll prepare two examiners and an assessment team. You'll receive notice by the end of the day."

Minato bowed. "Thank you Sandaime."

As he turned and took his leave, he was aware of Danzo's curious eyes following him, but steadfastly refused to acknowledge it. He wished he could just as effectively stave off the man's interest in his students.

.-.-.-.

Kushina crossed her arms and tilted her head in thought as she watched Kakashi and Obito fail to harmonize their chakra yet again. They had been in the training field for hours, trying to perform the sealing technique they had picked out over lunch the other day. Performed successfully, it would extinguish the small flame feeding off a chakra infused scroll placed between them. As it was, the fire was burning heartily with no sign of diminishing.

"Can't I just _stamp_ it out?" Obito grumbled as he caught his breath.

"Let's see you stamp out a tailed beast," Kushina shot back.

Obito growled. Kakashi frowned in frustration.

"Let's try something else," Kushina said. "I assumed the yin chakra was going to be stronger in Obito because of the Uchiha bloodline, but maybe that's where the balance is being distorted. Kakashi, switch to yin chakra. Obito, you provide the yang."

The two boys straightened, took a breath and formed a set of seals in unison. _Fuuinjutsu: Inyou Fuuin_.

Talismans spread out in a ring around them came alive as polar chakra flowed out from the two young shinobi standing across from one another. Kushina watched them physically struggling to manipulate their chakra in an effort to find a perfect balance to merge the two opposing energies. It was far different from controlling both yin and yang elements within one's own chakra to perform ninjutsu. This technique required absolute harmony to neutralize the foreign chakra it trapped within its web.

Kushina was just about to decide it was too difficult for them when the chakra flame suddenly swayed and then disappeared.

"That's it!" she cried. Almost as soon as the words were out, the flame came alive again and Obito fell back with an exhausted groan. Nevertheless, it didn't dampen Kushina's excitement at all. "Well done! You did it. The rest is practice."

"Seriously?" Obito gasped. "It's going to take _years_ before we can seal anything that's even remotely a threat."

Kakashi braced himself on his knees and shook his head. "We'll have it down in two months."

Obito dropped his head into the ground.

"See, I told you they could do it."

Kushina turned to see Minato land beside her and she grinned. "I never thought I'd see Uzushio's traditions being passed on here."

Minato smiled. "Where there's a will, there's a way."

She pressed a hand to her stomach. "It's good to know that if the Kyuubi ever breaks free of my control, they'll be able to lend you a hand."

"That won't happen. I'll make sure of that."

Kushina gave him a wry smile. "There's never a never in our world Minato. What did the Sandaime say?"

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but eventually turned to his students. "Kakashi, Obito, listen up. The Hokage-sama approved to hold your Jounin exam. It starts tomorrow at dawn."

"Tomorrow?" Obito wheezed.

"A Jounin has to always be prepared to respond to emergencies on the spot," Minato said. "That includes leaving on missions with a minute's notice. Having a full night to rest and prepare is a luxury you won't always have. Understand?"

Kakashi nodded. Obito climbed to his feet and straightened his shoulders.

"Meet me at 0600 tomorrow at the East Gate. Bring everything you need to survive."

"Hai."

Kushina watched her husband dismiss the two and watched them leave the training grounds. "Do you think they'll be alright?"

"It'll all depend on their examiners."

.-.-.-.

Obito was surprised when he returned home to find his sister's shoes in the entrance. It was rare for her to be home in time for dinner even if she wasn't on a mission. He padded through the house, picking up the sounds of conversation and laughter as he neared the kitchen. He opened the door to find Nayu leaning against the counter, her long hair hanging loose as she only did when off-duty. She was stealing bits of finger food as she chatted with their mother, Uchiha Natsumi.

"Welcome home baby brother," Nayu greeted.

Obito rolled his eyes. "Drop the baby, geez. Why are you home so early?"

Nayu sighed dreamily. "We got time off. Can you believe it? It's a miracle. Four months, two weeks and five days of back-to-back missions and finally some down time."

"Trust you to be counting." He propped his arms on the counter beside her. "Hey Mom, I won't be home for the next week."

She paused in the act of stirring the _oden_ pot. "Mission?"

"I'm taking to Jounin exam."

Nayu choked on a piece of fried tofu and doubled over in a coughing fit.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" Obito demanded even as he reached out to thump her on the back.

Ignoring his question, Nayu gawked at him through teary eyes and croaked, " _You're_ the examinee?"

Obito stared back. "You know who the examiner is? Don't tell me is you!"

Nayu shook her head and cleared her throat loudly. "Of course not. But it's been years since a Jounin exam was held. News was all over Headquarters."

"The Jounin exam?" Natsumi hummed in her mild tone. "How nostalgic. You'll have so much fun."

"Fun?" Nayu asked. "How?"

"Because there aren't any silly rules like the Chuunin exam. It's kill or be killed." She smiled cheerfully in a manner not unlike someone happily talking about their favorite hobby. Obito shook his head at the absurdity that was his family.

"Don't mind her, she's crazy," Nayu dismissed. "Listen Obito. All ANBU operatives are stinking assholes so don't ever trust a word the examiner says. They're sadistic bastards who love to make people suffer just to see someone else share their pain."

Obito gave his sister an incredulous look. "You're one of them. You know that, right?"

"Of course."

He could have sworn she looked proud.

"But seriously," Nayu went on with a worried frown. "Be careful. Never let your guard down. Think ahead. Use every dirty trick you know. And _always_ remember what you're fighting for. Especially if –"

"If what?"

Nayu took a breath, but then shook her head. "Just... be careful. Is Kakashi taking it too?"

"Yeah."

"Tell him what I told you. I'm sure he'll be fine, he's a genius after all. You on the other hand…" She looked at him with a dubious twist of her lips.

Obito growled. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh," Natsumi interrupted, her eyes on the calendar. "Would you look at that? Tomorrow's the first day of December. We need to get the Christmas decorations out. What would you kids like for Christmas dinner?"

The siblings shared a long-suffering look. "Mom, I keep telling you every year," Nayu said. "We're at war. It's not proper to decorate."

"Christmas isn't even a Konoha thing," Obito added. "Some eclectic old geezer heard about it on the far side of the sea and he came back half crazy."

"Being at war only means we need to keep our spirits high," Natsumi said, unfazed by their objections. "Foreign or not, it's much more cheerful than all the other dreary winter traditions don't you think?"

"Yeah but Mom, this year's different," Nayu pointed out. "Obito might not even make it back from the exam."

Their mother tapped a thoughtful finger against her chin. "I suppose you're right."

Obito tipped his head back and covered his face with his hands. "Can't I even get the benefit of the doubt?!"

.-.-.-.

"I see," Kakashi said. "So you stood waiting outside my apartment at 5:30 in the morning to complain about your family's lack of confidence in you?"

"I came to tell you about Nayu's warning, being the _nice friend_ that I am," Obito ground out. He kicked a stray pebble down the dark, empty street and threw Kakashi a suspicious look through the dim pre-dawn light. "You aren't reading any weird books are you?"

Kakashi raised a brow. "Like what?"

"Like 'The Shinobi's Guide to Wit and Sass'?"

"You need to stop making stuff up, Obito."

"I'm not!" Obito sputtered.

Kakashi only made a vague reply and began to re-check his supplies. They both wore their Chuunin vests and carried a full set of utility holsters around their waists. With additional scrolls containing sealed weapons, they had enough equipment to last two weeks on border patrol.

"You nervous?" Obito asked.

"No."

Obito breathed a smile. "Thought so."

"Are you?"

"Always."

"Whatever. Just don't fail."

Obito laughed this time. "Aye sir."

They soon left the last of the buildings and the East Gate loomed darkly ahead of them. Minato stood silently at its base, flanked on either side by two ANBU. One was leaning against the gate while the other was crouched, seemingly undisturbed by the cold despite their bared shoulders. The animal masks were lowered over their faces but Kakashi felt their silent scrutiny like needles pricking his skin.

The crouched ANBU slowly straightened and took a step forward. "Uchiha Obito. Hatake Kakashi. Your Jounin exam begins at sunrise."

* * *

Translations:  
 _Fuuinjutsu: Inyou Fuuin -_ Sealing technique: yin yang seal  
 _Oden -_ a winter pot dish

A/N: I know the Jounin exam isn't canon, but if anyone has any expectations or wants to see something happen, let me know. I'm going to change a lot from the original so the slate's still pretty blank. Now's the time to voice opinions!

As a side note, with Naruto/Shikamaru and Boruto/Shikadai in the same years I figured Minato and Shikaku _had_ to have been in the same year too, just because :) My headcanon is that Jiraiya tricked Minato into the Jounin exam because Minato and Shikaku kept turning down promotions (Minato because he wasn't interested in rank and Shikaku because he couldn't be bothered).

Response to Guest reviewer: Thanks for your review! Sorry it takes me until the next chapter to reply. I'm not too familiar with Fairy Tail but Natsu's the energetic fire guy right? Bet Midori would love to get at his fire! I'll keep working on the kick assery ;)

 **A/N July 28:** I wrote a oneshot that was inspired and based off a scene from this chapter. It's called "Of Dreams and Flowing Time" and features Kakashi at age 25, reflecting that he's older than Minato ever got to be. It'll be a nice interlude for readers who want to take a small breather. Just visit my profile and you'll find it there. Hope you enjoy!

.LinSetsu.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** To anyone who hasn't already read it, I wrote a short oneshot inspired by the previous chapter. It's called "Of Dreams and Flowing Time" and can be found on my profile. If you're interested, feel free to go take a look :)

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen:**

The second ANBU stepped forward and spread a scroll to display a basic map of Fire Country.

"The exam takes place over seven days within the borders of Fire Country. Each of you are to stay within your designated areas. Uchiha Obito, yours is bordered by the South and East geographic lines. Hatake Kakashi, your boundary lies between the North and East lines. Cross them and you're disqualified. Towns and villages are likewise out of bounds. Avoid them by a mile radius."

"There are no other rules," the first ANBU said. "Once the exam begins, your life and safety are no longer guaranteed – for that matter, neither is your sanity. Try to kill us if you want. We won't hesitate to do the same if we think you're unqualified."

A slight frown creased Obito's brow and he tipped his head a fraction at the vaguely familiar sound of the ANBU's muffled voice. Before he could voice his suspicion, however, Minato spoke up.

"If you're alive and well, return here by sunset of the seventh day. That will mark the end of your exam." He looked each of them in the eye for a moment, but his expression was closed and his voice held none of its usual cheer. He glanced at the sky. "You'll be given a head-start until the sun rises. When it does, your examiners will begin their pursuit."

The two ANBU disappeared and a moment later, the East Gate rolled open with a low groan to reveal the road leading out of the Village. The sky, weighed with clouds, was a subdued grey. A biting wind swept against them, the moist air laden with the promise of more snow.

Minato faced his students once again. "Go."

Without a word, they ran past him. Kakashi immediately leapt to the north and Obito to the south, disappearing into the shadows of the forest. The ANBU returned and looked out across the paling sky.

"You sure about this Minato?" one of them asked. His mask was an abstract depiction of a black goose in flight.

"I think the question is, do I believe they'll make it back?" Minato murmured.

He recalled the sense of pride and confidence he had felt minutes earlier as he had watched his students emerge from the darkness with their heads held high. He had known in that moment he had made the right decision. No matter how much he wanted to hold them back and protect them from the ruthless world, he knew there was no stopping them. As Jiraiya had once said, they were fated to rise above their peers and all that was left for him to do was help them achieve what they were born to do.

A small smile tugged his lips as he turned to the ANBU. "They'll make it. You two better be careful."

The Goose snorted. "They're just brats."

"Not just any brat," the second ANBU said.

"The White Fang's son right? All the more reason to crush him before he makes the same stupid mistake."

Minato stared at the dark eyes behind the mask. "I wouldn't count on it."

The ANBU huffed, unimpressed. "We'll see."

The sun soon broke over the horizon – a thin sliver of light quickly swallowed by the clouds. Without a sound, the two ANBU disappeared and Minato was left to gaze at the muted sunrise that bathed the Village behind him in a new day.

"Good luck Kakashi, Obito."

.-.-.-.

Kakashi bounded from tree to tree, rushing up the northern geographic line while memorizing the surrounding landscape that marked his boundary. He had traveled these areas countless times on missions, and recognized a handful of landmarks despite the patches of crusted snow on the forest floor and in the shadow of trees that made the area look different. It would take all day to travel to the country's border but he familiarized himself with what he could until the sun peaked over the horizon.

He then made an abrupt right and placed some distance between himself and the area perimeter before dropping lower down the ancient trees where the shadows still lay thick. He hid himself under a tangle of intertwining branches, killed his presence and waited. Having chosen speed over stealth, he knew his footprints could be easily traced. It would only be a question of time before the ANBU found him.

A soft thump of boots landing on wood was the only sound to announce the ANBU's arrival. He was higher up the tree and only his legs were visible from where Kakashi hid.

"Hatake. Come out."

Kakashi didn't move.

The ANBU sighed. "Fine, don't. I know you're close enough to hear me in any case, so… Ah, here you are."

Kakashi snapped his head to the side when the ANBU suddenly appeared beside him. Without thought, he leapt back along the branch, a kunai drawn. A quick look at the empty branches above told him it wasn't a Kage Bunshin and cold sweat broke out on his back.

The ANBU chuckled. "Put that away, I'm not here to hurt you – yet." He raised a hand to the mask, marked with flowing lines that resembled a bird's spread wings, and pulled it off. The smiling face beneath appeared to look around Minato's age, framed by dark hair and accented with a golden earring in his left earlobe.

"I go by the name Yuki," he went on. "Thought I'd introduce myself, seeing as we're going to be stuck together for the next week, hopefully less."

Kakashi didn't say anything, not knowing quite what to make of the shinobi. Crouched on the tree with his back leaning casually against the trunk, he looked nothing short of relaxed and yet, there wasn't so much as a fissure in his guard. _So this is ANBU._

A long moment passed in silence as Yuki simply stared at him. Kakashi remained tense at first, one hand braced against the rough wood, but after a while, it became obvious the ANBU wasn't going to attack.

"What?" he asked at last.

"I was just thinking, you don't look much like your father. Aside from the hair of course."

"You knew him?"

"You could say that. I was his student."

Kakashi stiffened in surprise. He had known his father had taught a team but didn't remember ever meeting them. Their house, unlike Minato and Kushina's, had never hosted a group of rowdy students. Meals had always been a somber time between just the two of them.

"He never spoke about his team," Kakashi said.

Yuki snorted. "You couldn't even stand back then."

"We've met?"

"A couple times. You wouldn't remember."

Kakashi fell silent. He had never bothered to look up who his father's students were. He had always assumed they were one of the many who had turned their backs on the White Fang after that one mission had ended in disaster. He had little reason to think Yuki was any different.

"What did he tell you before he died?"

Kakashi's hand twitched against the bark. He stared at the shinobi in front of him, feeling like he had been blindsided. Not even Minato had ever asked him such a question. He hid his discomfort behind a frown and asked, "What makes you think he told me anything?"

"You were everything to him. He wouldn't have killed himself without passing on a part of him to you."

"What would you know?" Kakashi clenched his jaw unconsciously. He had hoped the exam would take his mind off the recent string of events that had brought his father to the forefront of his mind. Instead, it was only dragging him deeper into a hole he had turned away from years ago.

"More than you think," Yuki replied. "Tell me, what were his last words?"

It wasn't so much what he said as how he said it that made Kakashi pause. He realized with a start that he had yet to feel any sort of animosity or aversion from the ANBU even when he talked about Sakumo.

He hesitated. It wasn't a secret after all. "He told me to grow strong. Stronger than him."

Yuki was silent for a moment, eventually closing his eyes with a soft sigh. When he looked up again, a mirthless smile tugged his lips. "I take it back. You're more like him than I thought."

"I'm nothing like him."

"That's for me to decide. Later." He leaned forward so that he was balancing on the toes of his feet and set a new tone. "First, let me tell you how things are going to work during this exam. You're going to follow my orders at all times. I hear you like to disobey your team leaders lately, but pull one of those stunts on me and I'll disqualify you on the spot. If I give you a mission, you do it. If I tell you flush out enemies and kill every one of them, you do it. If I tell you to run to the border and back with an illusionary team of idiots, you do it. Am I clear?"

Kakashi nodded once.

"Good, then spin around in a circle three times and bark like a dog."

"…What?"

"You heard me." Yuki twirled his finger to emphasize his point. "Hurry up. We don't have all day."

"Why? What's the point?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out. Come on, or I'm going to disqualify you now before we even begin."

Biting back on the impulse to pull the very stunt he had just been warned against, Kakashi straightened slowly, reluctantly. He hoped to high heaven the ANBU was just looking for a moment to attack. If he wasn't…

Kakashi spun rapidly in place three times, then forced a grudging "Woof" through clenched teeth.

A moment of stunned silence followed. No attack was forthcoming.

"Oh _wow_." Yuki burst into laughter. "I can't believe you actually did it! Don't you have any pride?!"

Rendered speechless out sheer annoyance and embarrassment, Kakashi hurled a kunai at the ANBU who was now doubled over in hysteria. He _did_ say they were allowed to kill them after all. Kakashi's indignation only mounted when Yuki deflected the weapon with a mindless twist of his armored wrist even as he continued to wheeze and chortle in glee.

"Are you done yet?" Kakashi demanded.

His shoulders still shaking, Yuki finally straightened and wiped the tears from his eyes. "You're definitely something. We're going to get along just fine."

"Not if I can help it," Kakashi grumbled.

The ANBU released a last chuckle and then got his feet with a deep breath. "Alright. Ice breaker's is over. Here's your first mission: guess who I am."

Kakashi promptly threw another kunai at him. Yuki caught it by the hilt an inch from his face and grinned.

"I'm not kidding," he said, rolling the weapon deftly between his fingers like a pencil. "Sometimes Jounin have to figure out who the hell they're fighting just by observing their enemy's movements, style and ninjutsu elements. It's a lot easier in the ANBU – we kill first and ask later – but the Jounin need to be more diplomatic. So I'll say it again. Guess who I am. You have three tries and as a token for your hilarious show just now, I'll give you eight hours."

Despite the absurdity of the situation, he had a feeling Yuki wasn't just looking for names. Names were meaningless to shinobi. He would need to gauge either his clan, bloodline, or his possible significance in the Village. "How specific does it have to be?"

"As specific as I say so," came the flippant reply and Kakashi barely stopped himself from wasting a third kunai. The first thing he needed to do was wipe that confident grin from the ANBU's face. Only then would he start revealing the ninjutsu he was most familiar with.

"You ready brat?" Yuki asked. He tossed the kunai into air and, without waiting for a reply, struck it with the flat of his palm to propel it at Kakashi.

Kakashi snatched it out of its wild spin and in the same movement, twisted around to clash it against the ANBU's katana that swung down on him from behind. The mask was back in place, glaring at him from behind their locked weapons.

"Your mission starts now."

.-.-.-.

The morning grew progressively darker until it finally began to snow sometime after noon. Unlike earlier occasions, the snow now blanketed the trees and forest floor within minutes, building layers fortified by the cold.

Kakashi disengaged from a lengthy round of close-range combat – out of breath and suffering a deep cut along his collar bone – but nevertheless convinced the ANBU wasn't a Hyuuga in disguise. Hours of near constant fighting had failed to reveal a movement even remotely similar to the Byakugan clan's fluid taijutsu style, even on the few occasions when he had succeeded in penetrating Yuki's defenses. His movements were fast and seamless, but they were also abrupt and had a tendency of snapping out of predicted courses. It spoke of years of dedicated training and combat, not the cover-up of a Henge for the sake of testing an examinee.

As he vaulted back onto a higher branch to catch his breath, Kakashi kept his eyes on the shinobi standing leisurely below him. He wasn't from the Aburame or Inuzuka clans – the former were specialists in long-range combat and the latter had a distinct scent to them that was impossible to disguise. The Akimichi, Yamanaka and Nara clans were also out for their distinct fighting styles that were far removed from the ninjutsu, kenjutsu and taijutsu expertise the ANBU had shown so far.

His elemental attacks had included everything except Lightning. By and large he used Doton and Fuuton as distractions and the Katon to attack. Then in the wake of fire that turned snow to rain, he had also used water elements to catch Kakashi off guard.

Whatever his main affinity was, it was clear the ANBU was fully capable of using other elements with lethal precision. Putting all those facts together, it narrowed the options down to the Uchiha, Sarutobi and Shimura clans – as well as every other all-rounder shinobi in Konoha.

Kakashi cursed under his breath.

"You going to make a guess anytime soon?" Yuki called up. "You're almost out of time."

Kakashi hated guessing. There was nothing more dangerous than a wild bet and that was Obito's specialty.

He paused and turned the thought over again. His teammate had crossed his mind several times during the fight, but he had dismissed them as fleeting memories of his training. There were clear differences in style between Obito and Yuki, but there were also moments when a slight shift in weight or a certain angle of a defensive stance seemed to overlap in his mind, making him feel like he was sparring with Obito.

"The Uchiha Clan," he said.

The ANBU cocked his head. "You're going to have to be more specific than that."

Kakashi ground his teeth. This was what he had feared the most. He hardly knew anyone from the Uchiha clan other than Obito and Asuka. The only one he knew in ANBU was –

"Nayu…?"

Yuki erupted into laughter again and Kakashi rolled his eyes. He _knew_ it wasn't Nayu but who else was he to name? Fatigue was quickly spilling over into aggravation and he wasn't pleased with it.

"By the way, unless you want to keep looking like an idiot," Yuki said, pointing behind Kakashi, "you'd better watch out."

Kakashi spun to see a Kage Bunshin almost within striking distance. He ducked under the katana's swing, twisted, and threw his heel into the ANBU's open side. It was blocked, but Kakashi didn't have time to follow through with a second attack as he felt a surge of heat and chakra rushing at him from below.

For a second he thought it was the Goukakyuu. Then the mass of fire diverged into three heads and engulfed the branch Kakashi was standing on. By the time he recognized it as the Karyuu Endan, he was already plummeting in an uncontrolled fall down the tree from a hastily executed Shunshin. He winced as he pressed a hand against the angry burn along his left arm where the sleeve was torn open.

Landing unsteadily in the knee-deep snow, he immediately withdrew two kunai to parry the ANBU's flurry of strikes. He soon found himself being pushed back by the sheer force and speed behind each blow despite his mobility advantage with the smaller weapons. When his back hit the trunk of a tree, he gritted his teeth and braced his arms against the weight of the ANBU's sword as the blades ground together in a deadlock.

"So what's your next guess?" Yuki asked. "You have two more."

Kakashi made no reply, aware only of his mounting exhaustion and the pale vapor of his rapid breaths. His arms shook from exertion and he knew he wouldn't last much longer. With a deft twist of his wrist, he pulled out an explosive seal from his sleeve and struck it down with one of the kunai.

Yuki immediately leapt back. Kakashi surged forward after him, stepping over the talisman just as it exploded. His hands flashed through a shortened set of seals as he used the explosion's shockwave to propel his Shunshin to greater speeds.

The ANBU froze as Kakashi skidded into the snow behind him. Kicking off the ground with a burst of chakra, he drove a kunai into Yuki's unprotected back.

Both fist and weapon slammed into a wall of snow.

Kakashi stared at it for a second. Snow? As a Kawarimi? He pulled out his hand and staggered back a step, grimacing from the inevitable damage he had suffered from the blast. He searched for the ANBU's presence, but his eyes were repeatedly drawn to the peculiar replacement technique standing before him.

Snow – Yuki. He frowned. Was the codename a pun on the ANBU's unique abilities? He had once heard of a clan in Water Country with a bloodline that allowed them to create ice and snow at will. But as far as he knew, no one in Konoha possessed the same ability, much less a member of the Uchiha clan.

No, wait. Kakashi froze and searched for a memory from years ago.

… _he knows more snow techniques than fire for crying out loud._

Those were Obito's words. What had they been talking about? Elemental ninjutsu – Katon – Uchiha elders – Sharingan – a cousin –

Kakashi spun to face the ANBU who dropped down silently on him, the katana's swing already halfway to his throat.

"You're Obito's second cousin from a family who married so many outsiders you never developed the Sharingan," Kakashi blurted in a single breath.

The blade stopped against the fabric of his mask. Nothing moved except the drifting snowflakes and there was no sound except Kakashi's labored breathing. He kept his eyes fixed on the ANBU mask, every muscle in his body tense, ready to spring back into motion if the guess was wrong.

Slowly, Yuki withdrew the sword and took a step back. "Well… that's one way of putting it. Who told you that?"

"Obito."

"That pipsqueak." He sheathed his sword and removed the mask from his disgruntled face. "Well done. Mission accomplished."

Kakashi slowly relaxed his posture and pressed a hand against his throbbing arm. "He said you know more snow techniques than fire. Is that your affinity? I've never seen anyone use it in Konoha."

Yuki shrugged. "It's not hard, just a combination of water and wind chakra. There might have been a great-aunt or someone from the Snow Clan, I forget." He sighed deeply and cracked his neck. "Goddammit. I was really hoping to disqualify you here. That idiot. He needs to learn to keep quiet."

So the mission _had_ been made deliberately impossible. Kakashi was beginning to have serious doubts about the validity of the Jounin exam – or more specifically, this examiner. "If it makes you feel any better, he never mentioned you by name."

"Not in the least, seeing as the rest of my squad is getting time off." He huffed and crossed his arms. "Well, what's done is done. I'm Uchiha Masayuki. I also happen to be Nayu's captain."

Yuki, as in Masayuki? "I thought codenames were meant to be more arbitrary."

"Who said it was a codename?" He tapped the mask sitting on his head. "The ANBU call me Goose."

"As in Silly Goose?"

Kakashi barely managed to raise his arm in time to block the kick that sent him stumbling into the snow.

"Think you're funny huh?"

"Not really," Kakashi muttered, getting slowly to his feet. His body felt heavy. It wasn't the first time he had fought for hours on end so he didn't know where the exhaustion was coming from. Had he used too much chakra? The wound along his shoulder was still bleeding but not heavily. He shook his head. The exam was a week long. He didn't have the leisure to be feeling tired.

"Well if you're fit enough to be a smartass, you're fit enough to start the next mission as far as I'm concerned. Agent Raven."

A second ANBU landed beside him, shorter in stature but otherwise obscured beneath a black hooded cloak. Kakashi immediately tensed, but Yuki held up a hand and looked aside between the trees.

Kakashi followed the direction of his gaze and frowned. A third ANBU was walking through the snow with two girls. One was a freckled child with wide, terrified eyes, bundled in a thick winter robe. The other was Rin. She held the younger girl close in a comforting embrace but looked up in surprise when she caught sight of them.

"Kakashi?" He saw her eyes flick down to his injuries and she made a move to approach him but was held back by the ANBU. He placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded to Yuki and the Raven. Rin looked back and forth between the group of shinobi. "What's going on?"

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, equally bewildered but beginning to feel an inkling of suspicion and an undeniable sense of ill-boding.

"I was working at the hospital when I was told to assist the ANBU –" She glanced at the shinobi behind her wearing a feline mask "– with an accident out here. When I met him at the rendezvous point some distance outside the Village he was with this girl and wouldn't give me any details."

Kakashi turned to the only one who had the answers but Yuki ignored his silent question. The ANBU knelt in front of the small girl and exchanged a few quiet words. Then he picked her up and walked to Kakashi's other side.

"This is Akane-chan from East Valley. We received a report that she was abducted last night by a group of shinobi, so Agent Lynx was dispatched to stop them. He's on his way now to take her home."

"What does that have to do with the exam?" Kakashi asked.

"What exam?" Rin asked.

"A Jounin exam," the Raven replied. His voice was a deep rasp as if someone had once crushed his vocal chords.

Rin stared incomprehensively at him for a moment, before turning to Kakashi. "Jounin exam?"

Kakashi hesitated, not sure where to begin or even if this was the time to explain. Yuki saved him from having to reply.

"Hatake, your next mission is to make sure the Lynx can finish his job." He then met Rin's eyes. "Sorry for dragging you into this. You'll get a chance to catch up when the exam's over. That is, if you're still alive."

He had barely finished speaking when the Lynx wrapped an arm around Rin's neck and bound her limbs with a set of wires. She stood frozen in shock, her eyes faltering with confusion and indecision.

"What the hell are you –" Kakashi wrenched a kunai from his holster and immediately leapt at the Lynx, but Yuki stopped him before he could take two steps.

"Hatake!"

He looked over his shoulder and froze. Yuki was holding Akane against his shoulder with the point of a kunai tipped to the back of her neck.

"What –"

"Your mission's over here. Remember the rules. Shinobi must always make their mission the top priority, even if it means other sacrifices have to be made. Don't make the same mistake as Sakumo."

Kakashi stared at him with wide eyes, unable to accept what was happening.

It couldn't. It was absurd.

Yet the ultimatum was as clear as anything.

"I'm telling you to choose," Yuki said. "Save the mission or save your friend."

* * *

Translations:  
Kenjutsu – sword fighting techniques  
Karyuu Endan – Dragon's flame

.LinSetsu.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Akane squirmed against the man holding her. She looked up at his face and found him staring straight ahead with an empty expression. He didn't even blink. He had gone completely still. She twisted in his arms and saw that everyone else was also frozen in place, as if they were all playing a game of Red Light Green Light.

"Akane-chan."

She jumped and saw the black hooded figure turn his masked face to her. She hunched her shoulders and tried burrow deeper into the rigid arms holding her.

"We'll take you home soon, I promise," the hooded man said. "Why don't you come over here and keep me company? He's going to be standing like that for a while."

Akane eyed the old man and hesitated. His voice was hoarse but gentle. He lowered himself onto his knees in the snow, his right hand fixed in a peculiar sign. Then he lifted his free hand to remove the mask, revealing an angled face softened by many small wrinkles and a warm smile. Coaxed by her inherently trusting personality, Akane wriggled out of the frozen man's arm and slid down his body. Then she paused again.

The man extended his hand invitingly. "My name is Jin. Nice to meet you."

Akane tipped her head as she approached him and looked up into his face. "Why are your eyes red?"

"It's called the Sharingan. It runs in my family."

"Oh." She looked over her shoulder at the four figures standing frozen in place. "What are they doing?"

"They're in a dream world. I'm afraid I'm too old to manipulate the passage of time for four minds so we're going to have to wait a little, but don't worry, they'll be back soon."

She didn't understand, but she nodded nonetheless and looked back up into his face. What she saw made her gasp. "Your eyes are bleeding."

Jin smiled gently. "No need to worry. It's the fate of all Mangekyou users. I've been lucky to have kept my sight for so long." She looked up at him with large, clueless eyes and he gently pulled her into the folds of his cloak. "You don't need to understand, little one. This isn't your world. You'll have forgotten any of this ever happened by the time you're his age."

He looked up at Hatake Sakumo's son. The boy stood in the act of stepping toward the medic girl and the Lynx, frozen in the moment Jin had activated the Tsukuyomi that ensnared them all. The Goose and Lynx had each set up their own layers of separate genjutsu on the two young shinobi. Jin had watched the Goose, in particular, taking his time to slowly encroach into Hatake's chakra system with every strike he had landed over the course of their fight.

Even without the Sharingan, Uchiha Masayuki was a formidable genjutsu user and was known for his knowledge and skills in seamlessly weaving together multiple illusions. So much so that Jin doubted Hatake even realized his mind was trapped in another dimension. If by any chance he did, there was still no escaping Jin's Tsukuyomi – much less the hell Yuki had coordinated – when the medic girl was equally caught up in their trap.

"Sometimes we have to make tough choices," he murmured softly. "Shinobi or not, we're only human."

The White Fang had chosen compassion over duty. What would his son choose? Would he be able to perceive the real intent behind the test? Because to Yuki, it wasn't about the choice at all, but how one lived with its consequences.

Jin wrapped his free arm around Akane to keep her warm and then focused on the movements that flashed like a second vision within the Mangekyou Sharingan, overlapping the four shinobi who stood motionless to the naked eye.

This would be his last act as a shinobi. When Yuki had approached him late last night with the request, he had felt surprisingly content with the opportunity to give up what remained of his sight for the next generation.

"Don't make me regret it Hatake."

.-.-.-.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Kakashi shouted at Yuki.

"I'll let you be the judge of that," Yuki said, sliding his mask back into place. "Not that I care about what you think. The only thing that matters now is the mission at hand, Hatake."

Yuki pressed the sword closer to Akane. The girl turned and came face to face with the weapon, staring wide-eyed at her own reflection in the blade. Then her face slowly scrunched together and a long wail broke out, triggered more by the child's instinct to the cold menace emanating from the ANBU rather than a full recognition of the danger she was it.

Rin struggled against her bonds and twisted to look at her captor in alarm. "Let me go, please! She's just a child! You have no right to put her through something this!"

"Be quiet." The Lynx tightened his arm across her throat, choking her into silence even as she continued to strain against the wires.

"No right?" Yuki spoke over Akane's sobbing cries while he held her still with a firm grip on the back of her small neck. "We have every right. We aren't here to play games. We're here to test whether Hatake Kakashi has what it takes to make the right decisions when he's entrusted with a mission that puts the Village at stake."

Kakashi glared at him. "Not a game? Putting a mission and a life at risk just so you can recreate _this_?"

He had often wondered, in the dead of night, what he would have done in his father's shoes – what he would do if faced with the same situation. But this… This was different. The deliberate setup to present him with this deadly, point blank provocation was nothing short of a sick game.

" _This_ is something we all have to face sooner or later. You think there's always going to be some miracle way to succeed missions without making sacrifices?" Yuki laughed derisively. "Wake up kid. Start acting like a real shinobi. You want to be like your father and save your friend? Fine. It's a life for a life. It means you're prepared to see this girl die."

"You wouldn't dare," Kakashi hissed. The safety of the girl was the Lynx's mission. Exam or not, _no one_ had the right to voluntarily sabotage a mission. "That's treason."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? But work in ANBU long enough and you'll see things you'd wish you never knew. For example, what if the mission was in fact to kill this girl and make it look like the Rocks did it? What if my story was a lie and we're the ones who actually abducted her? The fact is, she's a useful pawn. Whether she lives or dies isn't my concern."

"What about him?" Kakashi nodded to the Lynx. "It's his mission."

The other ANBU gave a shrug. "I've done worse than lie on a mission report. We were ambushed. The girl tried to run. She died. End of story."

"Why?" Rin rasped. "Why would you do something like that?"

"There is no why. I only do what my captain tells me to do."

"We'll know the truth."

"You won't remember."

Rin's hand flared with chakra and she twisted against the wires to strike it against the ANBU's body. One touch and she could paralyze him. There was no way she was going to stand here being a useless deadweight. Her fingers scraped against his thigh and she felt a second of triumph. Then in the next, he kicked her legs out from under her and threw her into the snow.

She had a moment to gasp in a breath before he weighed her down from above and dug his fingers into her throat.

She heard Kakashi call out her name but her eyes were fixed on the mask above her, a sense of disorientation unnerving her to the core. Why hadn't it worked? By all means, he should have been suffering from a severed ligament. How was he still able to move?

"It won't work," the Lynx murmured quietly. "You're not in control here."

Here? Rin frowned and tried to speak, but her voice gagged in her throat as the ANBU tightened his choke. She thrashed in the snow, panic rising as the pressure mounted against her windpipe.

"Rin!" Kakashi lifted his hand to throw the kunai, only to be stopped by Yuki's voice.

"Make another move and I'm going to take it as your decision to abandon the mission."

Kakashi clenched his teeth and turned on him. "You call this a mission? This isn't anything but –"

"Call it whatever the hell you want kid. Nothing's changing. Make a decision: be like Sakumo or prove you're different. Keep spouting pointless arguments and they'll both die."

Kakashi tightened his grip on the kunai until his knuckles hurt. He knew he didn't have time. Tears were running down Rin's face as she voicelessly struggled to draw breath. He needed to act. He had promised Midori and made a vow with Obito. He wouldn't let Rin die. Not now, not ever.

A pained shriek echoed between the trees from the other side. He snapped his eyes to Yuki and saw him sliding the edge of his blade into Akane's skin. The eyes behind mask were fixed on Kakashi.

He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood but didn't even register the pain. Wasn't there a way? Was his strength not enough to save them both? It wasn't even about the exam anymore. It was two lives on a scale, threatened by a pair of lunatics who were no better than enemies.

Then with a start, he remembered there was a third. His eyes darted around the clearing and landed on the black cloaked ANBU leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. What was he doing? Was he only there to assess the test?

His instincts said otherwise. Yuki didn't do anything by half-measure. The Raven wasn't just watching. Then what was his role? Kakashi tore at the inside of his cheek in frustration – and finally noticed. He wasn't feeling the pain. The burn on his left arm still throbbed, as did the gash along his shoulder, but the inside of his mouth was whole.

A genjutsu? If so, how much was an illusion? The girl? Rin? No, he knew Rin was real. He wouldn't mistake her presence. His mind raced. Even if it was an illusion, he was fully aware that advanced genjutsu techniques could infiltrate so deeply into the victim's mind that a hypothetical death would also kill the physical body.

He cursed the ANBU. That meant the presence of an illusion didn't make the situation any better. Then why use one in the first place? He glared at the ground. _Think, think_. Something wasn't reality. What? Akane? The Lynx?

Whatever the case, he had to break free first. Though half knowing the outcome, he concentrated on his chakra flow and disrupted it. _Kai._

Nothing changed.

His options were limited. He couldn't count on someone on the outside dragging him out. Neither did he think a bit of pain was enough to pull him out of such an advanced illusion. The ANBU were experts in subterfuge. They wouldn't let him out so easily. He needed something more drastic – something capable of overturning their predictions and shocking his system out of this static dimension.

There was only one way to do that.

And then what? What if it didn't work?

Kakashi shoved the thoughts aside. He was out of time. Rin's wheezing breaths and Akane's cries were deafening in his ears.

He raised the kunai.

If he could only save one of them…

If a sacrifice had to be made…

 _Grow strong, Kakashi. Strong enough to complete your missions and not lose your comrades. Do you hear? Grow strong._

He had never hated his father so much as he did in that instant when he realized – it was impossible.

Sacrifices had to be made.

Kakashi swung down his arm and buried the kunai deep between his ribs. Blood rushed up his throat and the pressure on his lungs nearly made him squeeze his eyes shut. He forced them open, pushing back against the pain and nausea as he concentrated on the surroundings.

It was still snowing, but the surroundings had grown much darker. To his right, Yuki stood frozen, his arms empty. On the other side, the Lynx and Rin were on their feet and the wires that should have been binding Rin lay slack in the snow. The Raven was kneeling on the ground close by with Akane wrapped in his cloak.

Yuki cursed violently but Kakashi didn't spare him another thought. Hanging precariously between reality and illusion, his vision blurred and twisted between motion and repose. It was like seeing and feeling double. The pain in his chest eased for a second and then flared with a vengeance, sending him to his knees. In one moment, his hand was empty and in the next, it was drenched in the warmth of his blood. His mind reeled in panic but he clung to the vestiges of both worlds and the thought of impending death that had pulled him free of the genjutsu.

"Rin!" He shouted through the foul taste of blood in his mouth. He saw the one in the snow turn her head weakly toward him. The other was motionless. "Breathe! This is an illusion! You're on your feet! Get the girl –"

Kakashi choked on his blood and coughed violently. He didn't know if it would work – if Rin trusted him enough to believe in his words with the single-mindedness she needed to control her body while her mind was still trapped in the illusion.

He raised his face from the snow that vacillated between bloodied red and pristine white. He saw Rin struggling against the ANBU's hold in the genjutsu, while stumbling through the snow in reality. From the other corner of his eyes, he saw Yuki bearing down on him.

Gathering the last of his sanity and consciousness, Kakashi raised his voice again. "Move! There!"

He jerked the kunai from his chest and hurled it at the kneeling Raven. The agent spun to protect the girl in his arms and the weapon struck him in the back. He caught a glimpse of Rin tackling him just as Yuki knocked Kakashi to the ground. Then the world went dark.

.-.-.-.

Rin stared down at the Raven, her chest heaving. She had no idea what was going on. How had she been able to knock down an ANBU? Blindly following Kakashi's words and the trajectory of his kunai, she had willed her body to move and crashed into nothing – that turned into the cloaked ANBU a second later.

She immediately reached out for the young girl cushioned in his arms, but Akane turned her face into the Raven's cloak and clung to him as she sobbed.

"It's alright," the Raven soothed, stroking her head as he lay motionless in the snow. His mask lay buried beside him, revealing the Mangekyou Sharingan in his bleeding eyes as they faded to black. "It's alright little one, it's all over now."

Rin staggered to her feet. "What… is going on?"

The Raven's eyes turned to her and for the first time, she noticed they were looking right through her in the characteristic way of one who had lost his light.

"Your eyes," she mumbled.

"Don't worry about me. You'd better go check on your friend."

Even as he finished speaking, a voice rang out through the snow.

"You dumb shit!"

Rin snapped her head to where Kakashi was. The two other ANBU were kneeling over his prone body and she felt her chest constrict.

"He's dead, captain," the Lynx said.

"I can see that," the Goose snapped, tearing off his mask in agitation.

"Move!" Rin was pushing the two out of her way before she knew it, her hands alight with healing chakra. Her palms pressed down on Kakashi's eerily quiet chest. There was no pulse. His heart was still. Biting her lips hard, she poured chakra into his organs, manually circulating the blood through his unresponsive body. "Kakashi! Can you hear me? Kakashi! Wake up!"

"The idiot killed himself in the Tsukuyomi," the Goose said. "There's no way his physical body's going to survive that kind of trauma."

"Whose fault do you think it is?!" Rin cried, blinking at the tears that spilled all the same. She rubbed her face with a shoulder and shook her head. She needed to concentrate.

 _Talk to them_ , the medics always said. _Call them back_.

Her voice shook. "Kakashi!"

.-.-.-.

Kakashi lay staring at a bright afternoon sky. Thin wisps of clouds drifted steadily overhead, carried by the early spring breeze. At his feet, he could see the target post that his father had erected in the garden for him. The entire surface was pockmarked with shallow slices left by shuriken and kunai. Idly, he mused that if only the weapons were a little lighter, he would be able to throw them more consistently into the dot in the center.

A slow frown pulled his brows at the thought. He hadn't reflected on the weight of kunai for years. Besides which, the shuriken currently embedded in the post were far too disarrayed for his standards. Had he really thrown them? What was he doing on the ground in the first place? He felt like he had to be somewhere else but his limbs were too heavy to move.

As the muddled thoughts swirled in his mind, he heard voices from the house.

"Yuki? Have you seen my son? He's not in his room."

"He's buried in the grass over there. Seriously, you need to teach him not to use up all his chakra throwing weapons. The kid can hardly walk and he's hitting bullseyes. It's creepy."

"Don't blame me, I only showed him what chakra was. He figured out the rest on his own. Where?"

"Below the post. See the hair?"

"Oh, right. I'm coming Kakashi!"

A sigh. "If only our enemies knew the legendary White Fang turns into a puddle of goo for his son."

"You would too if you'd spend time with him."

"Hard pass. I have enough clan brats clinging to me already."

A deep, full-throated laugh carried over the garden and Kakashi closed his eyes. He had forgotten how his father used to laugh.

"See you tomorrow sensei."

"Thanks Yuki."

Kakashi didn't know when this memory happened or why he was seeing it in such vivid details but it all seemed irrelevant. He listened to his father's feet treading the grass and then felt his warm presence settle beside him.

"You'll catch a cold sleeping out here," Sakumo said.

Kakashi almost said _it's warm_. Then the cold hit him out of nowhere and he snapped his eyes open. It was dark. The sky was gone and so was the garden. He tried to sit up but couldn't feel any part of his body. It was unbearably cold, like frost had settled right into his bones. His breath hitched.

"Shh, don't worry, you're in a state of shock." Sakumo shrugged out of his vest and draped it over Kakashi. It was so big it engulfed him whole and the warmth that slowly sank into his skin filled his chest with nostalgia.

He remembered now. The Jounin exam. Yuki. The hopeless no-win situation. Had he died? Was Rin safe? Had she been successful in saving the girl?

"Father."

"Mn?"

There were so many things he wanted to say, but for the first time in years, he felt something other than indifference toward his father. The walls that had held in his childhood confusion and misgivings were crumbling in the wake of understanding.

"You made a mistake. What you wanted to do was impossible. They were nothing more than ideals."

"I know," came the quiet reply.

"Then why did you kill yourself? Why did you leave me with an impossible task?" _Why did you leave me alone for the sake of your own honor?_

"Because I thought you could do it. I still believe you can."

Kakashi gave a mirthless huff. "I did what I could and died."

"Not yet."

"Then why am I talking to you?"

Sakumo only smiled and ran a hand through Kakashi's hair. "Grow strong, my son. Find your strength."

Kakashi frowned and searched his father's face. Just as he was about to ask what that meant, he heard someone call his name.

 _Kakashi._

 _Kakashi!_

"Midori?" He turned and searched the darkness. It was silent. He looked back to Sakumo. "Did –"

His father was no longer there. The Jounin vest was gone.

 _Kakashi!_

He recognized the voice now. It wasn't Midori. It was Rin. Was she safe?

He willed his body to move and follow the echoes of the voice. It was like wading through a sea of mud. Something clogged his nose and mouth. He couldn't breathe. The warmth was all but gone, leaving him vulnerable to the oppressive cold once again. His legs felt like they were sinking into quicksand, his hands hanging useless at his sides.

Still, he pushed on. He needed to find her. He still had promises to fulfill.

He couldn't die – not yet.

"Kakashi!"

He opened his mouth with an audible gasp and filled his lungs. It hurt to breathe. He didn't know if he was breathing, coughing, or choking, but it felt like he was drowning in air.

"Breathe Kakashi, slowly, you're doing fine. Thank god… thank _god_ …"

It took him a moment to blink his eyes into focus, cringing against the sharp contrast of snow against the backdrop of night. Rin was leaning over him, mumbling incoherent words and wiping away the tears on her face.

She was safe. Good.

No sooner had the fact registered in his mind than he saw a fist snaking out from behind Rin and he threw himself to the side. Rolling clumsily to his feet, still feeling weak and lightheaded, Kakashi barely managed to raise his hands to block Yuki's kick. The force sent him crashing into a tree and knocked the breath from his lungs. Before he had a chance to recover, Yuki had him pinned to the tree with a fist in his shirt, his face contorted with fury.

"What the _fuck_ sort of solution was that?!" he snarled. "You want me to fail you right here and now and cripple you so you can never fight again? _Huh_?!"

"No! Stop!" Rin cried out as she lunged after them.

A hand on her wrist stopped her and she spun to face the Lynx with rare anger etched into her face. Enough was enough. But she paused when the ANBU lowered his mask to expose a young man with soft, green eyes clouded with concern.

"Let's give them a minute," he said. "You may not believe me after what we just did but Captain really cares about the kid. Hatake Sakumo was his teacher and hero. His suicide devastated Yuki and he just watched his son try to do the same thing just now."

Rin wasn't sure she believed him, but when she tugged her hand loose, he let go without a word. Curling her fingers together, she turned her eyes to Yuki and Kakashi, preparing to jump in if it escalated any more.

Kakashi glared back at Yuki and dug his fingers into the ANBU's forearm, not even caring about the armor. "You think your test was any better? Rin could have died! And you call yourself a Konoha shinobi? My father's student?!"

"I'm trying to save you from making the same fucking mistakes he made and what do you do? The _exact_ same shit!"

"At least he tried to save his team! Anyone who thinks that was his mistake can go rot in hell!" It was the first time in his life that Kakashi had voiced a defense of his father's actions. But the fact was lost in the haze of exhaustion and anger that blinded him to rational calm.

"I know that. You think I'm an idiot? His failure wasn't choosing his team over the mission, it was not having the resolve to live with his decision and thinking his life was worth throwing away!"

Words lodged in Kakashi's throat and silenced him – because he saw a part of Yuki's anger right in his own heart and understood the pain.

"We live in a world of sacrifices and shit decisions," Yuki went on. "It's not about which decisions we make, it's about owning up to them. Sakumo was one of the best shinobi Konoha's ever seen but it meant jackshit when his heart was so soft he couldn't bear to be hated by the people he loved. _That_ was his weakness. _That's_ what he wanted you to overcome. And what do you instead?"

His grip tightened on Kakashi's shirt, knuckles pressing against his chest with bruising force. For a second, he felt as if Yuki wasn't looking at him at all, but the specter of his father. Like a bucket of water over his head, it pulled Kakashi back to his senses.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?" Yuki's voice was hoarse. "Trying to kill yourself just to avoid making a decision isn't a solution!"

Kakashi loosened his grip and glanced over the ANBU's shoulder at Rin. "Father died for nothing. Honor isn't worth dying for. That was his mistake. I'm not going to repeat it. If I have to sacrifice my life, it's going to be for someone else. It's going to mean something."

Yuki opened his mouth and then snapped it shut again as if biting on something unpleasantly bitter.

"Masayuki."

They both turned to see the masked Raven treading slowly through the snow with Akane still in his arms.

"He passes. You may not have seen what you wanted, but he far exceeded our expectations on all counts."

"Not if that wasn't an illusion," Yuki objected.

"But it was and he saw through it. Regardless of whether you agree with it, he made a decision based on the circumstances and the factors at hand." He turned to where Rin and the Lynx stood. "That was a fine display of teamwork and trust. He has good instincts, good judgement and the skills to match. I, for one, am satisfied with the results."

Yuki scowled but pulled his hand back and turned away. "Lynx, take everyone home. The exam continues."

"Wait," Rin said. "Kakashi's hurt. Let me take care of him first."

"No." Yuki held up a hand before she could protest further and the Lynx threw a book to him. He in turn tossed it over to Kakashi, who caught it out of reflex. "That's what your next task is about. Read that and learn everything in it. You have 24 hours."

Kakashi flipped through the hand-bound book and found a series of ninjutsu techniques related to emergency field treatments. He raised a brow. So that was how Minato knew the basics of healing while insisting he had never received medical training.

Yuki gave Kakashi a last sidelong look but it was growing too dark to discern his expression. Stooping to pick up his mask from the snow, he fixed it over his face.

"I'll find you in the morning," he said simply, his voice devoid of emotion.

Despite Rin's attempt to object, the Lynx and Raven disappeared into the night, taking the two girls with them. Yuki lingered for a moment longer before leaping up into the trees.

Kakashi was left to stare at the trampled snow, trying in vain to make sense of everything that had just happened. It was a long minute before he allowed himself to sag against the tree and sigh heavily. He watched his breath smoke out and fade among the falling flakes, then closed his eyes.

He couldn't believe it was only day one.

* * *

 **A/N:** Whether intentionally or not, I seem to be focusing a lot on gray zones between the stark contrasts that were highlighted in Gaiden, namely the extreme way Kakashi reacted to his father's decision and suicide. I'm actually a little worried that some of you may feel unsatisfied with the way I handled this chapter, in which case, please tell me because I can learn so much from talking with readers. That said, there will be more scenes dealing with the issue, so bear with me!

Thanks for reading and if you have anything else you want to comment on, I'll be waiting with open arms :)

.LinSetsu.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Kakashi woke with a start and was on his knees with a kunai drawn before he remembered where he was. It was pitch dark and freezing. His left arm burned and his body ached. Pushing down on the pain, he let out a breath and slowly let his muscles relax. With half a mind checking for presences outside, he felt along the ground around him for the small flashlight he had dropped when he had fallen asleep. Finding it, he infused it with a trickle of chakra and adjusted the strength to a soft glow.

The abandoned burrow he had taken shelter in was nestled under the roots of an ancient tree. It was nearly as cold as outside but at least it was dry. After stumbling onto it by chance the previous night, he had tumbled inside and covered the small entrance with old vines and loosened clumps of root to prevent light from spilling out. He knew it was dangerous to choose a hideout with a single exit but the alternative to turn into a living snowball outside had been less than appealing.

He picked up the book Yuki had given him and flipped it open to the last page he had been reading. Taking a deep breath, he circulated his chakra in the way the textbook described to regulate and adjust his body temperature. After a moment, he sighed in relief as the biting cold slowly eased. Whatever else he thought of Yuki, he was grateful for this new piece of skill.

Looking at his place, he noted that he had gotten a third of the way through the book during the night. Much of it had been survival theory interspersed with practical techniques that balanced on the edge of regular chakra control and medical ninjutsu. They were all described in a way that was easy for combat specialists to understand and manipulate, even though the average shinobi would never have thought to apply such measures to healing.

Growing curious, Kakashi turned the book over. It was bound in plain cloth with no title and looked thoroughly worn as if it had passed through many hands. Opening the inside cover, he looked for who had written it and came across two names. _Senju Tsunade_ and _Kato Dan_.

He had never known the missing Sannin had penned a book. Though from the looks of it, it felt more like a rough protocol for frontline soldiers rather than a textbook for medical students. It was well known that Tsunade had advocated the addition of a medic to every team during the previous war but lack of funds and resources had prevented the proposal from being implemented. This sort of manual would have been the next best thing, but then why wasn't it circulated among the Chuunin? Returning to where he had left off, the answer soon became apparent.

Under the section for laceration treatments, it list four possible ways of stopping heavy blood loss, but the required chakra control was far more refined and technical than most offense type shinobi could manage. Added in scribbles at the end, clearly reflecting the frustration of the author, was a fifth method: _Useless punk. Find a Katon user and cauterize the damn wound. The idiot probably deserves it anyway. See a medic before infection sets in._

Kakashi raised a brow at the outright medieval treatment and quickly revised his opinion. He was glad Chuunin were left with bandages and blood replenishing pills.

He sighed. At any rate, he would need to try one of the methods for his stiffening wound over his collarbone. The burn on his arm was another issue altogether. As he considered temporarily treating them with the medical supplies he carried, a small disturbance outside caught his attention. He immediately put out the flashlight and tucked the book into his pouch as he moved to press his back beside the entrance of the burrow.

It was Yuki. Kakashi edged his hand closer to the weapons holster, but soon changed his mind and slowly parted the cover. If the ANBU had wanted to attack, he wouldn't have made his presence so clear.

Dawn was just breaking high above the trees. It had stopped snowing during the night and the skies were clear, allowing the warm rays of sunlight to penetrate onto the forest floor. Kakashi squinted against the brightness reflecting off the snow and climbed out of the burrow, his eyes fixed on the tall figure across from him. Yuki leaned against a tree with his arms crossed and the mask was turned to the side of his head.

For a long moment, they stood in silence, staring across the small distance at each other – Kakashi warily, Yuki thoughtfully.

It was the Uchiha who finally broke the silence. "Do you remember that one night when a group of drunk guys harassed you for being the traitor's son?"

"I remember a few," Kakashi replied. In the months following Sakumo's death, many teams had been forced to bear the consequences of the White Fang's failed mission – the least of which had been the crippling loss of trust among allies and relentless ridicule from other Hidden Villages. It was only natural that a handful of frustrated shinobi would turn their ire on the single living connection to their troubles.

"Do you remember what you said?" Yuki asked.

"I don't know which one you're talking about, but no, not really." It was a lie. He did in fact remember bits and pieces of the confrontations, but had no reason to tell anyone about them. Whether it was verbal slurs or physical bullying, it wasn't anything Kakashi had been unable to handle.

"You said he was weak. _Weak_. Never in a million years did I think I'd ever hear you say that. Not with the way you used to look at Sakumo."

Kakashi was silent. At the time, he had believed his father had simply lacked the physical strength to achieve both his goals. It was the only kind of strength Kakashi had known, after all. But with time came knowledge and an understanding that the world was more complicated than black and white.

 _What is strength to you?_

Minato's words came back to him and he finally felt like he was beginning to understand what his teacher had been trying to say. There was more to strength than physical prowess. He had seen it time and again in Obito and Midori, but had failed to link it to Sakumo's tainted legacy. It was easier to think his father's reputation had been greater than his actual skills – more so than admit he had been a deeply flawed individual who had clung to shattered ideals until his last breath.

When Sakumo had died, Kakashi had stopped idolizing the White Fang, but a part of him had never stopped wanting to idolize the man who had been his father.

All that had now changed. In hindsight, it had been a gradual transition over the years, oppressed by an unwillingness to examine his own feelings; culminating in the moment he had been forced to confront the past.

Still, one belief remained unchanged.

"I'm not going to repeat his mistakes," Kakashi said.

"Says the kid who tried to kill himself in a Tsukuyomi."

"That wasn't the same. You're saying there was another way out of it?"

Yuki shrugged. "No."

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I saw Sakumo the day before he died," Yuki said after a pause. "You know what he said? He asked me to look out for you. I said hell no."

"The feeling's mutual," Kakashi replied.

Yuki gave a quiet laugh, even as his eyes grew distant. "I had no idea he'd already made up his mind. But I should have known. The signs were everywhere. I just never believed he'd actually kill himself."

Kakashi looked away, feeling increasingly uncomfortable talking about his father with someone who didn't see him as a disgrace. Minato rarely broached the subject and even when he did, it was in passing mentions that never pressed Kakashi for a response.

Awkwardly, he searched for words. "What about his other students?"

Yuki's eyes narrowed in anger and his expression hardened. "One was already dead by the time sensei was given that mission. The other, Shuuji, went with him. I was out of the village on another team and only heard about it afterwards. Shuuji – that scumbag – was one of the shinobi Sakumo personally saved. Then when the Village turned on him, so did Shuuji. I've watched a lot of people die, but the only time I didn't feel a thing was when I watched him bleed out in our first year in ANBU."

Kakashi felt something cold creep down his spine at the soft, frigid tone Yuki spoke in. Though apathy was familiar territory, he had always felt something churn in the back of his chest when faced with death. He wondered what it would feel like to feel nothing at all, as contradictory as it sounded.

"...you say."

Kakashi looked up. He hadn't been listening. "What?"

"I said you better mean what you say. To hell with anyone's opinion. Learn from Sakumo's mistakes and his weaknesses. Overcome them."

Kakashi tipped his head and regarded the ANBU. "Watch out. You're starting to sound like a half-decent person."

"The fuck I am," Yuki murmured. He pushed off the tree and unfolded his arms. "I'll let you study in peace. You better patch up that burn before it gets infected."

Kakashi frowned. That was it? He had thought the ANBU was there to test him, or at the very least disrupt him. But Yuki only turned and walked away with a wave of his hand, quickly disappearing between the trees. Kakashi remained tense for many minutes, stretching his senses to catch any approaching attack – but all was still.

.-.-.-.

Hours later, Kakashi was diving after the medical textbook that had slipped from his hand just as a tree exploded above him in a violent burst of splintering wood.

" _Study in peace_ my ass," Kakashi grumbled as he snatched the book and leapt away. Even as he zigzagged between the trees, he flipped through the pages and gathered chakra to his free hand. He leapt high over a streak of fire and pressed his hand over the burn on his left arm. He managed to dampen the wound's fever for all of two seconds before it flared alive again and he cursed.

He threw his weight backward in midair as a gust of wind sliced over him from ahead. Planting his feet on the next branch he found, he pushed off hard and propelled himself down. His eyes were fixed on the words in the book, searching for something he had missed that was preventing him from completing the healing process. He didn't get to finish a single sentence before he was forced to twist around and catch Yuki's fist as it flew into his face.

With the textbook in one hand, Yuki's fist in the other, his feet struggling to find purchase on a precariously thin branch, Kakashi glared up at the ANBU mask.

"You really want to end this exam early don't you?" he growled.

"You wound me. This is a valuable lesson."

"In what?"

"Multi-tasking."

"Are you kidding me?"

Yuki laughed. "One day you'll be thanking me for it."

Kakashi had his doubts but the branch gave way before he could voice them and they jumped back in opposite directions. Kakashi wasted no time in creating as much distance as he could from Yuki. He used every trick he knew to shake the ANBU from his trail, even as a large part of his concentration went back to reading the page on burn injuries.

Multitasking, in a sense, was an apt description.

It took him several more minutes to finally spot the missing link, by which time he was running across the snow-packed earth. Checking his surroundings, he threw himself under the tangles of an expansive needle-leafed bush and took a deep breath as he masked his presence.

Propping the book on his knees, he brought his hands together and laced together several fine threads of chakra. Gathering half of it in one hand and directing the other internally to the site of the burn, he closed his eyes to focus on the fragile tendrils that felt as if they would either disappear or snap if he so much as breathed.

Slowly, he wove them together as the instructions stated, one feeble loop at a time, over and over again. The pain slowly subsided, but in its place, he grew increasingly lightheaded from the strain. How Rin, or even Asuka, managed to do this so effortlessly on a daily basis was beyond him. Even that wayward thought was enough to uproot his concentration. The delicate chakra threads crumbled into a regular mass of energy and Kakashi opened his eyes with an aggravated sigh.

The burn was reduced to a patch of raw, tender skin that was barely healed and would likely scar. Still, he decided it was good enough, much like the welt that had become of his other wound. He rolled his shoulder and flexed his arm to make sure his patchworks would hold. Some of the pain still lingered, but not enough to hinder his movements.

"I suppose it's not the worst I've seen, but it's definitely not the best," said a voice from above.

Kakashi swallowed a groan. He didn't even feel frustration anymore as he tipped back his head to see Yuki hanging upside down from a tree like a bat. Kakashi resigned himself to grudgingly admit the ANBU was above his league. It was like facing Minato, except his teacher wasn't nearly as black hearted.

"You're saying you can do better?" Kakashi retorted.

"I don't need to, I just freeze everything. Besides, I don't get hurt."

"Good for you." Kakashi made it a personal goal to land one satisfying punch to Yuki's face before the exam was over.

Yuki nodded to the book. "What's next on your list?"

Kakashi flipped to the next section and frowned. It was on stabilizing fractures. "So what, I'm meant to find someone with a broken leg or something?"

"Not quite," Yuki replied. "I can help you there."

Kakashi looked up to ask what he meant, but the moment his eyes left the page, something slammed into his face and pain erupted around his nose and eyes. He stumbled back, the book forgotten as he pressed a hand to his nose. Blood ran down his palm and soaked the cloth of his mask. Through a blur of reflexive tears he saw Yuki – or more precisely a Kage Bunshin – crouched where Kakashi had been sitting.

 _When_ or _how_ or _why_ were all completely beside the point. Between the blood clogging his nose and the white hot fury rising neck-to-neck with the splintering pain in his face, Kakashi was left gaping and sputtering voicelessly in disbelief.

Both Yuki and his replica whooped with laughter and leapt away.

"Good luck!" they threw back before darting out of sight.

"You… _motherfucking goose!_ " Kakashi snarled after him. The broken nose filled with blood reduced his voice to a horrible, nasal sound that echoed humiliatingly into silence.

.-.-.-.

The moon was bright that night, almost but not yet full. It illuminated the forest and bathed the winter landscape in a silver glow. Avoiding the light, Kakashi leaned against the trunk of a tree, high up on its branches. He sighed heavily, still feeling an irate twinge of pain from the bridge of his nose. Gingerly, he pulled the mask down as he rummaged in his pouches and pulled out a case of soldiers pills. If these first two days were any indication, he wouldn't survive the next five without them.

A broken nose had only been the beginning of the day's torment. Once Yuki had figured out he wasn't getting another chance to repeat his sadistic joke, he had ordered a team of ANBU to direct all injured parties returning from the border to Kakashi. Aside from life-threatening cases, he had been cornered into clumsily treating every sort of injury ranging from frost bite to kunai wounds to concussions. More than once, he had inadvertently done more damage than good, requiring the patient to be rushed off to Konoha – and each time had endured snickering chortles from the Uchiha looking on from behind.

At long last, Kakashi had exhausted every technique in the book, as well as a good chunk of his chakra supply. Yuki had called it a day, telling him to be on standby for the next mission.

He now sat by the eastern geographic line, which was marked only by a long groove along the forest floor where a frozen river lay beneath the snow. He figured he should move away into safer territory, but only sagged deeper against the tree as he swallowed the pill and fixed the mask back into place.

It was then that he became aware of someone's presence approaching and he pushed himself forward into an alert crouch. For a second he thought it was Yuki, but then again, when had the ANBU ever given Kakashi forewarning? A decoy then? He breathed through his nose – a lot more carefully than he usually would thanks to the stupid Goose – but there was no wind to carry any scents.

Eventually, he spotted a dark figure in the distance, bounding from tree to tree, unhurried but watchful. It wasn't long before the other took notice of Kakashi and stopped in the shadows. Only the river separated them now and Kakashi's brow rose as he recognized the presence.

"Obito?"

"Kakashi!" His teammate stepped into the moonlight and grinned. "Fancy seeing you here."

Edging further along the branch until he was just inches from the invisible border, Obito looked Kakashi over and raised a brow under his goggles.

"Looks like you've gotten yourself a beating."

"You aren't looking any better," Kakashi replied. Under the cloak draped over his shoulders, Obito's right thigh was wrapped in stained bandages, one of his sleeves was ripped almost to the shoulder and his left cheek was swollen.

Obito rolled his eyes. "My examiner's been trying to kill me every chance he gets for two straight days. Says it'll develop the Sharingan."

Kakashi frowned. "Is he a part of the Uchiha clan?"

"No, he's from a civilian family. Takeda Ryo. Who's your examiner?"

"Your cousin."

"Really? Which one?"

"Yuki."

Obito nearly choked on an exclamation. "I _thought_ I recognized his voice! Man, you really drew the short straw didn't you?"

"Tell me about it."

"Damn." Obito looked around and then sat down. "I need to be at the border by sunrise, but _this_ I gotta hear. How are you still alive?"

"Thanks for your vote of confidence."

Obito snickered. "Can't say I envy you. Yuki's a monster. I think he's a little crazy too. The only reason the Elders let him do as he wants is because he doesn't have the Sharingan."

"If he did I'd really be dead by now," Kakashi muttered.

"Close call? Now I know why Nayu was so worried."

Kakashi glanced sidelong at his teammate. "Did you know he was my father's student?"

Obito met his eyes and grew serious. "He never told me, but I heard some rumors around the time your dad died." He paused for a second, then added, "I don't think he ever thought badly of the White Fang."

"Not like most people, no." But Kakashi thought back the previous night and remembered the inexplicable look in Yuki's eyes. The only reason he had been able to recognize the emotion was because he had felt the same uncomfortable feeling twist in his own chest – hurt. There was no doubt Yuki had felt anger toward Sakumo, but it was anger born from love and the grief of being left behind.

"Kakashi?"

He looked up to see his friend peering at him with a worried frown.

"What?"

"You okay? What did he do?"

Kakashi sighed and leaned back against the tree. Almost unconsciously, he used the new trick he had learned to keep his body warm as he briefly told Obito about the second test. Rin, the civilian girl, the impossible mission, Tsukuyomi –

"Tsukuyomi?" Obito said, incredulous. "He brought a Mangekyou user? Who?"

"I don't know. He wore a Raven mask."

Obito tipped his head. "Raven. I wonder if it was Jin-san. But he's been retired for years and he's already half blind. Yuki's a right bastard but he wouldn't rob anyone of their sight for no reason."

If Yuki had gotten what he wanted and Kakashi had chosen either Rin or the girl, the real test would have only just begun.

"How did you get out?" Obito asked.

"I killed myself."

"You _what?!_ " He nearly slipped right off the branch as he tried to jerk forward, only to remember the border.

"It was the only –"

"No, don't you _dare_ give me that bullshit." Obito glared. "Are you an idiot?!"

Kakashi frowned. He hardly understood why Yuki had been so mad and now Obito was giving him the same reaction.

"You do realize Rin could have died otherwise," Kakashi said.

"He wouldn't dare."

"That's what I said. Can you say for sure he wouldn't?"

Obito started to say yes, then paused, frowned, gave a frustrated groan and finally slumped his shoulders.

"Okay, point taken," he mumbled. "But I still don't like what you did. What if it wasn't an illusion?"

"With the candidate dead, there'd be no reason for the test to go on," Kakashi replied. "They both would have been let go."

"But you'd be dead!"

"That's what I said."

Obito growled. "I swear if I could cross this line I'd strangle you here and now. If you think I'd be fine with you killing yourself in a stupid test, you're the dumbest idiot ever alive!"

"Obito…" Kakashi sighed. "That isn't the point. It was either me or Rin. In a way, I was lucky Yuki brought her. I may not have made it back without her help."

A deep scowl settled over Obito's expression. Then quietly he asked, "What if something like that happened in real life?"

Kakashi closed his hands into fists. He had thought of the question himself many times throughout the night. He knew what he would have done if he hadn't realized it was an illusion. Even if it was a decision born from emotions that blatantly disregarded half of what he had believed in all his life; even if it would have neglected Midori's desire to protect the future children; even if it made him a heartless killer.

"I would have sacrificed an innocent child."

Obito was silent for a long moment. Kakashi didn't meet his eyes. He couldn't. Everything about his decision was wrong, not just morally but also as a loyal shinobi of Konoha. And yet –

"For some reason I was sure you were going to choose the rules over Rin for a second there," Obito said, a tone of bemusement in his voice. "That would have gotten ugly."

"Things are ugly enough as they are," Kakashi muttered.

"Uglier." Obito sighed and raked a hand roughly through his hair in agitation. "I'm going straight to hell for this, but if there's one person I want to keep safe, it's Rin. We owe Midori that much. I'm not naïve enough to think we can save everyone. So comrades first. Always. Even if it means abandoning a mission or –"

"Abandoning another life," Kakashi cut in. What Obito was saying was a double-edged sword, but he didn't want his friend to voice the cold-blooded resolve. Like every other contradiction in a shinobi's life, this one would lay buried until the day an untainted soul rose to rail against all the distorted realities of their world.

As if such a day would ever come.

Obito nodded slowly, heavily. "Sorry for shouting at you earlier. As much as I hate what you did, you're right. It saved Rin. Just promise never to do that again. I can't lose you too."

Something about the sentiment made Kakashi deeply uncomfortable and he searched for a way to turn the conversation around. Striking a lighter tone, he asked, "You sure you aren't in love with Rin too?"

Obito's eyes bulged. "No! Ew. That's like saying I was crushing on Midori!"

"You just seemed to be emphasizing her a lot is all."

"That's because…" Obito hesitated and dropped his gaze. When he spoke, his voice was barely audible. "That's because I don't think I can bear to see someone who looks so much like Midori die again."

Kakashi immediately regretted bringing it up. It was still too early to talk of Midori's death or remember her lifeless face as she lay in the morgue.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Obito shook his head and raised his eyes. "I'll never forgive either of us if we let that happen. We're going to protect her at all costs, okay?"

"You have my word."

Obito smiled. "Thanks Kakashi."

"Just remember," he added, "there's a reason we're taught to prioritize missions over emotions. It's for the good of the Village. I don't need to remind you what happens to those who don't follow the rules."

Obito snorted. "You mean that they're called scums? Well if you ask me, those who don't value their comrades are even worse scums. If I'm going to be one anyway, I'd rather be a scum who values friends."

Kakashi's lips twisted ruefully beneath his mask. Somehow, Obito always seemed to know where he was going. As if he could see a light on the other side that guided him through the blinding darkness. From the day they had met, Obito had never ceased to amaze Kakashi with his straightforward honesty and an enduring simplicity that made everything make sense.

"Alright, well, if you're determined to make us into scums," Kakashi said, "here's some advice from your cousin: to hell with what anyone says. We live with the decisions we make, no matter what they result in. Don't make the same mistakes as my father."

Obito cocked his head. "But the White Fang was a hero. Nothing anybody says is going to change my mind on that."

"He wasn't a hero. Just a man with flaws."

"Yeah, like every other mortal being right?"

Kakashi blinked and conceded a smile. "Yeah, I suppose."

It would take time to come to terms with seeing his father in a different light, but he was starting to feel it was better than the stark walls of indifference he had known all these years.

Obito shifted his weight and winced. "Damn Ryo. I swear he was trying to cut my leg off."

"Wait try this," Kakashi said, pulling out the medical book he still had, though it was even more tattered now and stained with flecks of blood. "It's a field treatment protocol. I'll read you the hand signs for closing laceration wounds."

"Where'd you get that handy thing?"

"Yuki. It came with a price, believe me. Ready? Tiger, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger –"

Obito dutifully formed the seals, even as a confused frown began to crease his brows. "Hang on, this is…"

"The jutsu name," Kakashi went on, "is Katon Goukakyuu no –"

" _Kakashi!_ " Obito roared, sputtering out a mouthful of flames and choking on them. "You trying to kill me?!"

Kakashi opened his eyes wide. "Who me? Of course not, it says so right here. Option five: _Find a Katon user and cauterize the damn wound. The idiot probably deserves it anyway._ "

"No way do I deserve it, and tell me the first four options before you go all feudal on me!"

Kakashi chuckled to himself, relieved to see his friend back to being his usual self. Apologizing, he taught Obito all the techniques he had found useful and though Obito didn't have any bones to set, he had a good guffaw at what Yuki had done to Kakashi's nose.

"It's not a laughing matter," Kakashi grumbled, gingerly touching the sore area.

"Afraid you won't be as good looking anymore?" Obito teased. "Assuming you don't have crooked teeth."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Keep on guessing."

Obito chuckled one final time. "That's payback for trying to make me burn myself. Which reminds me, there's something I want to ask you."

"If it's about the mask, I refuse."

"No, no. It's about this technique Ryo gave me to learn. It's a wind ninjutsu called _Gyakukaze Fubuki_."

"Reverse Winds? I've seen sensei use it once or twice."

"So have I. In theory it's simple. You create an inner tornado spinning in one direction and an outer layer that spins in the opposite direction. But you know my problem."

"You suck at Fuuton."

Obito grimaced. "That's one way of putting it."

Spinning chakra in different directions was something Kakashi had recently learned to do while trying to recreate Minato's Rasengan, but he had never tried expanding it beyond the size of his hand. He could only guess the sort of mechanics involved when manipulating wind in that manner.

"It might help if you physically spin," Kakashi said, voicing his thoughts out loud.

"I'd be sick in a three seconds."

Kakashi ignored him. "Like the Hyuuga's _Kaiten_ spin techniques. Having physical momentum will help, at least with –"

From one second to the next, they were on their knees, alert and wary of two almost imperceptible presences closing in on them.

"I could have used a longer break," Obito muttered.

"Try asking them."

Obito snorted. "What do you say to practicing syncing chakra?"

"If you're talking about catching them in the Yin-Yang Seal, I'd say we'll fail spectacularly," Kakashi replied.

"I meant Reverse Winds. You take one direction, I'll take the other."

Kakashi raised his brow. "Don't tell me your examiner's nice enough to let you get away with that. I'm filing a complaint if he is."

Obito laughed. "I wish he was. He's the type of guy who goes by the manuals. Won't accept anything short of a clear pass. So you in or not?"

They didn't have much time. Kakashi reckoned five seconds. He heaved a sigh and stood up. "What are the seals?"

"Tiger, Dragon, Rabbit, Ox, Tiger, Ram, Horse. Take clockwise."

The words were barely out when a barrage of weapons rained down on them. Keeping their eyes locked, the two Chuunin formed the seals in unison and raked the air around them into a windstorm. _Fuuton Gyakukaze Fubuki_.

The whirlwinds exploded in size as their opposing directions clashed against each other, easily repelling the weapons and preventing the two ANBU examiners from getting any closer.

"I'm gonna make a run for it," Obito called over the roar of wind. "Give Yuki my warmest fuck you regards."

"I'll convey it with full sincerity," Kakashi shouted back.

Obito grinned and dove headfirst into the raging winds. Kakashi let the technique die down, leaving snow crystals glittering under the moonlight in its wake. He found the two ANBU some distance away and when it was clear that Obito was gone, the owl masked agent disappeared.

Yuki landed on a branch closer to Kakashi and tipped his head in the direction the Owl had gone.

"Nice chat with Obito?" he asked.

"He says fuck you and warm regards," Kakashi said.

Yuki barked with laughter. "The little brat, I'll get him for that. Later. Your next mission's set up. It was meant to be handled by the ANBU but we'll give it to you to see how you well you can lead a team. There's a group of Konoha shinobi who are under suspicion of plotting against the Village. Your task is to smoke them out and eliminate them."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "This better not be another one of your tricks."

"It's not." From the tone of his voice, it was clear Yuki wasn't joking. "This is a real mission. Konoha's being threatened from the inside."

* * *

Translation:  
Gyakukaze Fubuki - Reverse Wind Gales

 **A/N:** After the fast-paced chaos of the previous chapter, I tried to slow things down here and dig a little deeper into Kakashi's development (including his use of profanities :P). Not much actually happens, but this chapter contains quite a few key points I wanted to drop in so I hope you were able to catch them.

On a side note, I realize I'm not following the original plotline of the Jounin exam at all... which I'm okay with considering the quality of the original, but if there's something you want to see happen, let me know!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and special thanks to those of who have helped me come up with ideas and given me wonderful feedback. I really appreciate it and I always look forward to hearing from you guys :)

PS: I try not to let typos slip by but some are sneaky so if you see any, please please let me know!

.LinSetsu.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

"You're saying our own shinobi are plotting against Konoha?" Kakashi asked.

"Why sound so surprised?" Yuki returned. "Enemies aren't always the ones on the outside."

Kakashi landed and pushed off a tree, keeping pace with the ANBU as they made their way north. It wasn't yet midnight, but they traveled quickly, two shadows in the night exchanging quiet words.

"For what reason? It doesn't take a genius to know we'll lose this war in weeks if the Village is fractured."

"Konoha isn't nearly as united as you'd like to think. The war's been going on too long. Too many have lost people they loved. It turns morale and courage to mud and they look for someone they can blame. Someone who isn't a faceless enemy who's likely dead already. Leaders make the perfect scapegoat. In particular, the Hokage."

Kakashi frowned. "The Hokage isn't a god. He can't end a war single handedly. At least he's kept Konoha protected."

"Exactly. His priorities have always been focused on defense and avoiding civilian casualties. But that's not how wars are won. People are growing bitter and disillusioned. It gives rise to groups looking for more extreme options."

"Like?"

"Using the tailed beasts for war."

Kakashi looked sharply at him and Yuki shrugged.

"Not my idea," the Uchiha said. "Frankly, I'm against it. But the movement's there. By the time ANBU intelligence got a hold of it, a network was already established. This winter ceasefire hasn't helped."

"What are they planning?"

"Sandaime's assassination."

Kakashi stared, but didn't ask if Yuki was serious. He didn't need to.

The Uchiha passed him three photographs. "These are your targets."

"Just three?" He had expected a lot more.

"If we take out the whole network, we'll be left with a gaping hole in our forces. These three – two to be precise – form the core of the movement. This mission serves as a warning to the others."

"Won't it lead to a revolt?"

"Not if they're smart. Most of them don't even know who's part of the network."

Kakashi studied the faces in the photographs.

"The first is Oguchi Ko," Yuki said. A man with a clean-shaven head, deep set eyes and a dark, cropped beard glared from the photo. "Jounin, aged 32, close-range combat specialist. The second is Kure Nobuki. Jounin, 33, medic."

Kakashi stopped abruptly and stared at the man in the picture. He even tilted it toward the moonlight to make sure. The neutral expression on the shinobi's nondescript face and the hitai-ate worn around his neck was the same Nobuki who had supervised Rin and Asuka when Kakashi's team had been on border duty.

"Hatake?" Yuki called from the next tree.

Setting his teeth, Kakashi kept moving, aware of a sense of dread settling into his chest. He had only met Nobuki once; had barely spoken more than a handful of words to him. Still, it unsettled him to know the man behind the plot – the man he was meant to kill. He had never killed a fellow Leaf before.

"You know him?" Yuki asked as they resumed their trek.

"We've met."

"Don't let it get to you." There was a warning in his voice.

"I know," Kakashi replied, a little more forcefully than he had intended. There was a moment of silence and Kakashi could feel the ANBU''s eyes on him. Ignoring it, he flipped to the last photo of a frowning woman with short, disheveled hair and weathered skin.

"Taira Suzu," Yuki finally continued. "Former ANBU turned missing-nin. Her specialty was speed."

Kakashi sorted the information in his mind. "How are they connected?"

"They used to be a team. Taira Suzu defected from the Village four years ago with sensitive information. The ANBU went on the hunt, but she disappeared from their radar. No one could find any information on her until several weeks ago when she was sighted in Kouzan."

"Is that where we're headed now?" Kakashi asked.

Yuki nodded.

"I thought towns were out of bounds."

"There are exceptions to everything, kid," Yuki said.

"I'll remember that," Kakashi muttered before turning his thoughts back to the mission.

Kouzan was a mining town in Fire Country's single largest rock quarry. With the region's seemingly endless resource of minerals and iron ore, the town had developed to become the country's finest weapons manufacturing center. As such, its value to Konoha and Fire Country was immeasurable. Especially with the war dragging, its economy was flourishing and workers gathered from all corners in search for a share of the profits.

In recent years, Konoha's needs for weapons was reaching such dire heights that regular teams were sent to the town to help dig the quarries, blast piles of sedimentary rocks and control the smelting furnaces. Its location close to the border also made it a convenient place for teams to stop and purchase weapons on their way in and out of the country. For those reasons, it was not unusual to see groups of Konoha shinobi wandering its streets.

"Why take the risk of being in Kouzan?" Kakashi asked.

"This is what she looks like now." Yuki handed him a photograph of a bustling night street. Between the crowds looking for entertainment, a slender figure stood in front of a brightly lit establishment. Dressed in fine clothes, her hair reaching to the small of her back and make-up softening her face, Kakashi would never have guessed it was the same woman. Comparing the two photos, he noticed the entire structure of her face had changed.

"She would have kept fooling everyone," Yuki said, "but her luck ran out when a sensory-type tracker from the ANBU happened to be on a mission to Kouzan and recognized her chakra signature."

"What exactly did she steal?" Kakashi asked. Beneath them, the forest floor began to rise steeply as they reached the foot of a sizeable mountain. Beyond it on the other side would be Kouzan.

Yuki propped a finger to his masked forehead in thought. "It's meant to be confidential, but seeing as it isn't completely unrelated to you…" He shrugged. "Remember four years, your team came across information on the Sanbi?"

Kakashi nodded, pushing down on how it reminded him of Gamashi Kengou, Misa, and Midori's sacrifice. Now wasn't the time.

"Minato-sensei said the information was passed on to the ANBU."

"It was. I wasn't a part of ANBU back then, but from what I've heard, a team was successful in finding the beast. Then they were ambushed by the Mists. Their first choice was to seal the Sanbi and take it back to Konoha, but that proved impossible under attack. So they drove the beast further out to sea and spent a day wiping out the Mists. The only ones who knew what had become of the Three Tails were the agents on the team."

"Taira Suzu was one of them?"

Yuki nodded. "She disappeared a month later. Assuming she intended to use the information in some way, she would have gone to another Hidden Village."

"But the Sanbi hasn't be sighted since," Kakashi finished.

"Not even once. And now she appears in Kouzan, meeting with two suspected traitors."

Kakashi glanced at Yuki. "How accurate is the information you have on the two?"

"If you're questioning the validity of our intelligence – don't. If you're asking how sure we are, the answer is: pretty fucking sure."

It was the sort of response Kakashi had expected, but it didn't stop him from wanting to come to his own conclusions.

They traveled in silence after that. Despite their speed, it took them an hour to scale the mountain and cut across its broad ridge. Once they began their descent, Kouzan's town came into view as a broad cluster of glimmering lights gathered at the foot of the mountain. Beyond it was an expanse of darkness where the quarries stretched to the end of the valley.

Halfway down the mountain, Yuki swerved to the side and slowed. Eventually, he came to a stop on the ground and crossed his arms expectantly. Beside him, Kakashi turned to see two ANBU emerge from the shadows.

"This the pup we're meant to take orders from?" one asked. He wore a buffalo mask and had the build to match. The other was leaner with a mask resembling a horned goat.

"This is Hatake Kakashi," Yuki introduced. "He's your team leader as of now."

"What if he fails?" the Goat asked. "We only have one chance."

"I'll step in," Yuki said.

The Buffalo grunted. "Fair enough."

"Have they arrived?" Yuki asked.

"Oguchi Ko has," the Goat replied. "Kure Nobuki's border mission ends tomorrow at dawn so we expect him here by midmorning."

Yuki nodded and turned to Kakashi. "Like I said, your mission is to corner the three traitors and eliminate them. It doesn't matter how, just don't make it a public spectacle. The rest is up to you."

"Is it really necessary to kill them?" Kakashi asked.

Three masks stared back at him. It was Yuki who answered.

"Don't question the mission, Hatake. This is still part of the exam. Don't forget you're under my orders."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes but made no further arguments. "Do you know where they're going to be meeting?"

"We know where Suzu works," the Buffalo said. "Ko already arrived at the establishment earlier tonight. Speaking of which…" He cocked his head as he looked down at Kakashi and then turned to Yuki. "Don't you think he's too young to be exposed to a pleasure house?"

Yuki shrugged. "I guess? Not my problem."

The Buffalo shook his head. The Goat snorted.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and refused to rise to the bait. "I want to scout the town while it's still dark."

"We'll come with you," the Buffalo said.

"Not looking like that." He gave their armored uniforms a pointed look.

The two ANBU glanced at each other and without a word, performed a Henge – revealing quite possibly the most outrageous transformation Kakashi had ever seen. Ignoring Yuki's timely descent into a hysterical laughing fit, Kakashi raised a hand to rub the sudden headache that thrummed along his skull.

"Are all ANBU like this?" he ground out.

Muscle-bound and dressed like a messenger runner in a loincloth, the Buffalo grinned and raked a hand through his silver hair, which looked disturbingly similar to Kakashi's own. "Just because we do all the dirty work doesn't mean we don't have a sense of humor."

"What's wrong with this?" the Goat asked. His narrow face and jutting cheekbones were smeared with make-up and some sort of glittering concoction rimmed his eyes. With small jerks of his head, he tossed his long hair – obnoxiously silver – from side to side. "We'll pass as a family."

"In what world?" Kakashi growled. "Don't even answer that. Get serious. That's an order."

"Bossy pup," the Buffalo chuckled. "He'll make a fine captain one day, eh, Goose?"

Yuki was too busy trying to control his laughter as he bent over double, his shoulders shaking in silent heaves.

"Don't count on it," Kakashi grumbled. He'd be damned if he ever joined these idiots.

With an aggravated sigh, he performed his own Henge, changing his clothes, hair color and adding a scarf to mask his face. When he dared to look back at the two ANBU, it was a relief to see them reappear looking like regular civilians.

"You coming with?" the Goat asked Yuki, who was wiping tears from under his mask.

"Not into town," the Uchiha replied, finally recovering, "but I'll go down with you and set up a rendezvous point. We'll meet there to discuss Hatake's plan."

Kakashi nodded and the four set off down the last stretch of the mountain.

Near its base, Yuki stopped on a low cliff overlooking the town, and with a nod, told the three continue on. He lifted himself up onto a tree and watched them mingle into the crowds. Despite the late hour, the streets were still bright and lined with people, most swaying under the influence of alcohol. He could hear the occasional roars of laughter echo faintly up the mountainside and half wished he could join the fun.

He reached up to scratch the back of his head and abruptly rammed his hand against the hilt of the katana strapped to his back. Its sheath gave a dull crack and the lightest chime of metal on metal sounded as another blade bore down on it from behind.

"What's the big deal," he murmured, "Nayu?"

His subordinate's sword continued to grate against his. Only his knuckles straining to hold his weapon steady kept him from being cut down – and he knew she would if given the chance. He could feel her anger like a physical heat rising up their locked blades.

"I met Jin-san earlier today," Nayu said, her voice soft with menace. "He told me about your Tsukuyomi test."

"What about it?"

"You've reached a new high, Captain." It was clear she wasn't praising him.

"If it's about Jin-san's eyes, he agreed to take part."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

"The brat then?" Yuki asked. "He's alive."

"You're getting closer."

Yuki frowned and glanced over his shoulder at a leopard mask. "What else did I do?"

"You really can't think of anything else?" Nayu asked.

"Actually, no, I can think of so many I have no clue where to start."

"Go figure," Nayu spat and finally pulled back. "The only reason you knew about Nohara Rin was because I told you about her."

"Oh," Yuki hummed. He lifted his mask and propped it on top of his head to raise a brow at his cousin. "You feel betrayed?"

"Disgusted. I thought I could talk to you without you turning around and using what I tell you to torture Obito's friend."

"Now, torture's a strong word. That wasn't anywhere near it. And believe it or not, I wasn't planning to."

"I don't care what your intentions were. I should never have confided in you, much less asked you to check up on Obito when he was having those bad dreams." She paused and tilted her blade to his throat. "What did you tell Ryo about my baby brother?"

Yuki raised his hands and leaned back from the sword. "Hey, hey, hey. I get you're angry, but calm down and put that thing _away!_ "

Nayu didn't move. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing! I swear. I mean, I told him a bit about the Sharingan and how it evolves, but everything else was written in their files. You'll have to ask him what he intends to do with it… or did…"

"Dirty bastards, the both of you," Nayu grunted, withdrawing the katana and sheathing it. "Shame on you for digging into their wounds."

"But that's our job," Yuki said with a helpless shrug. "You know how we do things."

"Of course I do, but it's different when it's our family."

"Good thing you weren't chosen to be the examiner."

"I'm not sure you were the best option either, Captain."

Yuki tipped his head. "Why's that?"

Nayu took off her mask and fixed him with a scrutinizing look. "You're too emotionally invested. Maybe the higher ups thought it was a good idea to get the White Fang's student to test his son, but an examiner's meant to remain neutral at all times. Jin-san told me about your outburst."

"Then it's their fault, not mine," Yuki said with a shrug. "If they thought I'd follow protocol and be the good ANBU they want me to be, someone needs to wash their brains out. Preferably with a powerful Suiton and some soap."

Nayu frowned. "That's exactly the kind of attitude that got you kicked out of ANBU the first time you joined."

Yuki blinked and raised a brow, this time in surprise. "You believed those rumors?"

"You haven't done much to discredit them."

"I'm hurt." He put a hand to his chest and closed his eyes. "Not even my team believes in me."

"You're so thick-skinned not even a cleaver could hurt you," Nayu huffed. "If the rumor isn't true, why were you kicked out?"

"I quit."

"Funny."

"I'm not joking!"

Nayu narrowed her eyes in blatant disbelief. "Why?"

"Some punk took a dig at Sakumo-sensei."

"I rest my case. Your obsession with the White Fang isn't healthy."

"Call it undying respect."

"Right. So you quit ANBU over a single argument?"

"Well the 'punk' happened to be ANBU's second in command. Died in battle a month later so they recruited me again. No one's mentioned the White Fang to my face ever since." Yuki grinned, clearly pleased with himself.

Nayu sighed and shook her head. "I still think you should try to become a little more objective with this exam."

"I'm plenty objective. But if you want me to be more _restrained_ , well… Keep trying."

"That's what I thought," Nayu mumbled. "It was worth a try anyway. But I'm never going to confide in you ever again."

"Why not?" Yuki smiled, and for a second, Nayu was surprised at how genuinely excited he looked. "These brats are going to come out of this exam a hell of a lot stronger than you ever imagined. I can tell."

"Granted you don't kill them first," she shot back.

"No guarantee there," Yuki laughed. "Did you bring what I asked you to?"

Nayu untied a thin bundle of cloth from her waist and handed it to her captain. She hadn't looked at what lay wrapped inside, but it was a solid weight in her hand. One she knew could only belong to a sword.

"Is that…"

"Sentimental value," Yuki said, hefting the bundle with a wry smile before securing it beside his katana. "You want to stick around? The mission's simple enough but we could always use your Sharingan for damage control if things get out of hand."

Nayu shook her head. "I'm going to track down Ryo and make sure he's treating my brother fairly."

Yuki made a face. "You know he hates it when you baby him right?"

"Too bad. He's still the baby."

"You're honestly just as bad as I am."

She shrugged. "I learned from the best."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel as good as it thought it would," Yuki muttered with an unhappy twist of his lips.

"I know. That's why I said it."

"Sadist."

Nayu just grinned, satisfied, before disappearing.

Yuki leaned back against the tree trunk and crossed his arms with a huff. He hated to admit it, but he could understand why Hatake was always so mad at him.

.-.-.-.

It was rounding on eight in the morning. A low mist hung over Kouzan. In sharp contrast from the night before, the streets were now lined with people in working drabs, talking in low voices and marching with purpose toward the quarries. Several streets away, Kakashi lay low on the roof of a theater hall under a camouflage sheet, scanning the quiet entertainment district. Before him stood a gaudy archway leading into the red light district. Both sides of its narrow street were lined with establishments of all kinds to entice customers as soon as the sun set. Now, the decorative _noren_ curtains embellishing each storefront were taken down and all the suggestive _shoji_ windows were dark.

From his study of the area the previous night, Kakashi knew a manor called _Suiranso_ stood at the far end of the street as the largest and most extravagant establishment in town. It was there that Suzu worked under disguise, and as Ko was already inside, Kakashi was only waiting for Nobuki.

His plan was simple: follow Nobuki to Suiranso and make sure the targets are all gathered before driving them into the Buffalo and Goat's waiting arms. What hadn't been so simple was convincing Yuki to give him several minutes to listen in on their conversation first. It wasn't that he believed or even hoped Nobuki to be innocent. Neither did he think that knowing their plans would change anything. Both had been Yuki's argument.

Still, he kept thinking back to the time Nobuki had stepped in to kill an injured enemy in Kakashi's stead. Even knowing what he did now, he couldn't believe the look on the medic's face when he said he hated seeing children kill had been anything but genuine.

Kakashi wanted to know what Nobuki was thinking – and why he was betraying Konoha.

He looked down at the street again. Only one boy had approached the entrance to the pleasure district since Kakashi had taken up watch, and after a moment of studying the arch, he had quickly retreated the way he had come.

Finally, the quiet crunch of footsteps sounded from down the street and a man emerged from the mist. He wore a cloak around his shoulders, but his head was bared and Kakashi recognized Nobuki. The medic walked quickly but quietly into the red light district, never once looking around at his surroundings. Kakashi waited until he was almost out of sight before following over the rooftops.

It wasn't long before Suiranso's grand entrance came into view at the far end of the street. Flanked by high walls on either side and boasting an elegant front garden, the establishment looked more like a noble's estate than a brothel.

Kakashi stopped some distance away and watched Nobuki slip inside the main building. Bringing his hands together, Kakashi performed the _Meisaigakure no jutsu_ to camouflage his body, scent, shadow and presence. It wasn't foolproof, but the ANBU had confirmed that none of the three suspects were sensory type shinobi. As long as he was careful, it would do.

He jumped across the street onto the wall surrounding Suiranso and then onto the roof of the main building. Though the two story structure offered regular rooms, the most expensive and popular reservations were made in the half dozen independent houses built in the spacious garden. Buffered by an intricate maze of trees and bushes, the small, traditional cottages offered privacy and comfort for the rich and affluent.

Kakashi scanned the gardens from above and found Nobuki being led by a middle-aged woman along one of the many stone paths branching out from the main building. He waited until the woman returned before dropping down into the garden and tracing the same route to the house Nobuki had been shown to. It was secluded by a grove of thick bushes and the twisting branches of several large maple trees.

Approaching the entrance on silent feet, Kakashi suppressed his presence and knelt beside one of the main pillars. Gathering chakra to his ears to enhance his hearing, he zeroed in on the voices inside the house.

He recognized Nobuki's voice, which made it easy to identify Ko and Suzu as they exchanged greetings and settled into a somber mood.

"What did Danzo say?" Suzu asked.

It was followed by a long sigh from Nobuki. "He said now isn't the time to act."

"Why?"

"He says we'll fail."

"Like hell!" Ko snapped. "We have a plan and we have the forces."

"No, I told you we don't have enough forces," Suzu said. "I was hoping Danzo would provide what we're missing."

"The Mists refused?" Nobuki asked.

"They said they aren't ready to use it yet."

"The fuckers," Ko growled.

Kakashi frowned. This wasn't at all what he had expected to hear. First the fact that Shimura Danzo was somehow involved, second that Suzu had a connection with the Mists, and third that the assassination may not even happen. It was more than enough to alter the entire mission.

"On the other hand," Suzu went on, "There's a group called Akatsuki, recently formed in the Hidden Rain Village. It's nothing more than a bunch of idealistic kids, but they're strong and they're looking to unite Konoha and the western countries in peace. If we reach out to them…"

Kakashi was so intent on listening to her words that he almost missed the soft tread of feet on the stone path. He turned his head slightly and froze.

It was the boy he had seen in the streets. He stopped between the trimmed bushes several paces away with a quizzical tilt of his head. Then he took another step, looked around, and focused on Kakashi again. It was then that Kakashi noticed the red tint of his eyes and felt something cold and unpleasant tingle down his spine.

Shit.

A Sharingan user.

His camouflage was useless now. But more importantly, who was the kid and why was he here?

In the split second it took for the thoughts to register, he was on his feet and ready to take off.

As if sensing his intent, the boy lurched forward and blurted, "Wait. You're Obito's teammate, right?"

Kakashi paused and searched his face. He had on occasion seen Obito surrounded by a group of young Uchiha children but Kakashi couldn't say whether he had seen this one before.

"Who are you?" he murmured.

"My name's Shisui," the boy replied with a tentative smile. "Uchiha Shisui."

If Obito had ever mentioned him, Kakashi didn't remember.

Shisui dipped his head to the side again and squinted. "You're the silver-haired guy right? I can't really tell with your camouflage."

Kakashi hesitated, and then dropped the Meisaigakure. Shisui's face immediately brightened.

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, dropping his voice even further. As soon as the words were out, he realized with a start that it had grown eerily quiet inside the house.

"I'm on my way to a mission and –"

"Sh –" The sound was barely out of his mouth when the door slammed open and Kakashi was pinned to the pillar with a kunai to his throat. Ko's bearded face glared down at him.

"Who is it?" Nobuki asked from inside.

"A rat," Ko growled. "And Shisui."

Nobuki he stepped out and a brief look of surprise passed through his face when their eyes met.

"Hatake Kakashi." His expression hardened. "What are you doing here?"

* * *

Translations:  
 _Noren_ \- fabric curtains often decorating the front of stores bearing the name of the business  
 _Shoji_ \- wood framed screen covered with translucent rice paper  
 _Meisaigakure no jutsu_ \- camouflage technique

 **A/N:** My feeble attempts at world building are clearly still in its practice stages but if you have any thoughts or feedback on how this chapter turned out, I'd love to hear them! Other than that, thank you for taking the time to read this!

.LinSetsu.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Kakashi forced himself to hold still. The chances of escape were too slim, not to mention contrary to his mission. For a second, he considered giving an early signal, but the conversation he had just overheard stilled his hand.

There was also the issue of Shisui and the fact that the three had been expecting him.

Ko pressed the kunai harder against Kakashi's neck. "What were you doing here?"

"Wait," Shisui said. "He –"

"I came with Shisui," Kakashi cut in, meeting the boy's eyes for a second and hoping he wasn't placing his trust in the wrong person. He then looked straight up at the shinobi towering over him and carefully picked his next words. "I want to be a part of this."

Ko narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Kakashi thought quickly, rearranging plans and lining up a logical cover story in his head to get him through this unexpected turn of events. He had never anticipated actually talking with their targets, but it was too late to turn back now.

"Because I'm loyal to Konoha and Sandaime's leading it into destruction," Kakashi said, adding a measure of force behind his words. "My teammate was killed in battle and we weren't even allowed to avenge her. We were ordered to _retreat_."

He knew he had said the right thing when Ko's grip on his shoulder eased and the hostility faded from his expression.

"We've all been there, kiddo," he said. The kunai didn't move, but it was no longer a threat. He glanced over his shoulder. "You know him, Nobuki?"

The medic nodded. "In passing. I didn't know he was acquainted with Shisui though."

"We met through Obito," Shisui said and Kakashi breathed a silent sigh of relief. Whatever Shisui was here for, he didn't see Kakashi as an enemy.

Nobuki regarded him thoughtfully. "Your third team member was the girl… Rin's cousin?"

"Midori," Kakashi murmured with a nod. The bitterness wasn't hard to express, but he didn't know if it was enough to convince them. Silence stretched.

It was a woman's voice that eventually broke it. "There's no point talking about it out here." Kakashi looked up to see Suzu leaning in the doorway, dressed in a simple kimono and her hair loose over her shoulders. She stared back at him, but said nothing.

"Shisui," Nobuki said. "You have word from Fugaku?"

The boy nodded, though a frown creased his expression.

"Let's go inside."

Suzu disappeared behind the doors and Nobuki trailed after her. Ko stepped back and nodded for Kakashi and Shisui to follow suit.

The house was small but elegantly structured with cedar wood frames and white walls. The main room was furnished with two translucent windows and a sliding door that opened into the garden.

As they settled onto the tatami floor, Kakashi positioned himself with his back to the single hallway leading to the entrance. If he attacked now, he could catch his targets off guard and force them out into the garden, then over the walls of Suiranso's premises. Beyond it lay the forest at the foot of the mountain where the Goat and Buffalo had laid their trap.

The timing was right. But he didn't move.

Nobuki sat down across the room and gave Ko a brief look that made the large shinobi take a seat close to Kakashi. Suzu motioned for Shisui to sit in front of her and an expectant silence filled the room.

"Fugaku-sama told me to give you this," Shisui said, pulling out a thin scroll from his pouch and handing it to Suzu.

She took it, but kept her eyes fixed on the young Uchiha. He held her gaze without fidgeting, his expression almost blank save for the small frown tightening his lips.

Kakashi repressed his surprise to a slow breath, acutely aware of Nobuki's eyes on him.

Uchiha Fugaku. It was little wonder Shisui referred to him in the highest honorific. After the untimely death of the previous Clan Head a year ago, Fugaku – as his first born son – had taken over the position. To hear his name under these circumstances was as alarming as learning of Danzo's involvement. Just how deep had this plot moved?

As soon as the question surfaced in Kakashi's mind, a second possibility rose, supplemented by what he had overheard just moments ago. Had it gone too deep?

The scroll rustled as Suzu finally drew it open. Her expression didn't change as she read its contents. Then she sighed quietly and closed her eyes.

"What?" Ko growled.

The kunoichi tossed the scroll to Nobuki, who caught it and read out loud, "The Uchiha Clan is devoted to ending the war in the quickest possible means with the least amount of casualties from Konoha – whatever such methods may entail. We do not, however, desire to usurp the authority of the Hokage."

"What the hell does that mean?" Ko said. "Is he in or out?"

"Neither," Suzu replied. "He agrees with taking a harder line in the war tactics, but refuses to get his hands dirty."

"What I want to know," Nobuki said slowly, "is whether this is his individual will… or the general consensus of the Uchiha Clan."

"Fugaku-sama always acts in the best interest of both the Clan and Konoha," Shisui said.

"No," Nobuki replied. "He'll always choose the Clan over Konoha. He's just biding his time with these pointless missives, waiting to see how viable our success is and whether we'll promise him the seat as the next Hokage. He wouldn't think twice about killing Sandaime if it means bringing the Uchiha back to glory."

"Kill… Sandaime?" Shisui's expression froze in disbelief.

Kakashi took his cue and widened his eyes. Whatever the younger boy knew about this plot, he clearly hadn't known about the assassination, so it was best to play along.

Ko hummed in amusement. "Fugaku didn't tell you anything, huh?"

Shisui just shook his head.

"How are you going to do that?" Kakashi asked, adding a tone of awe to his voice.

"A distraction," Ko said. "Or at least, that was the plan. Suzu, I thought you said you had a deal with the Mists."

"I did," she hissed. With her eyes narrowed and lips pulled thin, Kakashi could finally see the resemblance to the first photo he had seen of her. "Are we really going to discuss this in front of these kids? We have an agreement with Fugaku about Shisui being a silent messenger, but I don't trust this new boy."

"So? We'll just kill him if he acts up," Ko said.

"I believe he'll be a valuable asset," Nobuki said, his eyes never leaving Kakashi. "If he's being honest."

Kakashi shrugged. "Suspicion is good, but I'm not your enemy," he said, parroting the words Nobuki had spoken to him the first time they had met.

The medic blinked, then gave a surprised bark of laughter. "Alright, I'll trust you for now." To Suzu, he said, "Let's talk openly. It's not like we have a lot of time. If he's a spy, we'll deal with him like Ko said."

"Fine," Suzu huffed. She turned to Ko. "I did have an agreement with the Mists. In exchange for leading them to the Sanbi they'd give me one chance to use it to my advantage."

"And what were you going to use it for?" Ko asked with a smirk. "To cleave a mountain so you could build your retirement home? The way you disappeared like that, we thought you'd died or washed your hands of this world for good."

"You wish. I was planning to wipe Konoha from the face of the planet."

Ko snorted.

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

She stared at him with eyes that expressed nothing. They were dead, as if the light in her very being had been lost.

"To avenge my sister," Suzu said. Her voice was soft, but the muscles jumped along her jaw. "She was all I had left and Sandaime abandoned her to the Rocks. I'll never forgive that traitor. He promised to protect the Village, but all he's ever done was prioritize politics and diplomacy over the lives that actually matter."

Revenge. Kakashi couldn't say he was unfamiliar with the emotion, but it was the first time he was seeing it up close and directed at a person he had thought everyone respected. Kakashi himself had never questioned the Hokage's actions or his wisdom. If loss had made Suzu change the way she saw Konoha, was that also what drove Ko and Nobuki?

"Good thing you convinced her otherwise, Nobuki," Ko said.

Suzu shrugged. "Personally sending him to hell sounded just as good."

"To answer your question, Hatake," Nobuki said, "we were going to draw out Sandaime using the Sanbi as bait and then kill him under the cover of chaos."

It sounded like too simple a plan to Kakashi, but then again, he had never seen the scale of destruction the Tailed Beasts could supposedly cause.

"What went wrong with the plan?" he asked.

He didn't ask why the Mists were suddenly not cooperating. None of the three had actually mentioned that fact outright, which meant Nobuki was waiting for him to walk right into their trap and reveal he had information he shouldn't have.

"They don't have the beast under control," Suzu said after a pause. "Or so they say. They've had four years to subdue it. I find it hard to believe they haven't found a decent Jinchuuriki."

"Have you seen it?" Ko asked.

"Not since they captured it. Missing-nin or not, they don't let outsiders into their Village."

"But if we don't have their support, how are you going to kill the Hokage?" Kakashi asked.

"The old fashioned way," Ko replied with a shrug. "We're shinobi. Killing is what we do best. Besides, we haven't completely ruled out Danzo-sama's support, right?"

Kakashi remembered to show surprise. "Danzo-sama?"

Nobuki shook his head. "He made it clear that we're on our own."

"But will he interfere?" Suzu asked. "Refusing support and actively trying to stop us are two different things. I don't trust his word. You can never tell what that man's thinking."

Nobuki shrugged and said, "He'll listen to us in the end."

"Why…" Kakashi trailed off, leaving the question hanging.

"He's going to be the next Hokage."

"Has he agreed?"

"He will," Nobuki replied. "No one else cares as much for the wellbeing of the Village and has the determination to do whatever it takes to win the war. He's the only one who has the iron will and intelligence to lead us like a Hokage should."

Kakashi frowned. "But will he really agree to watch Sandaime die? They were comrades."

"He knows it's for the best."

"Hell," Ko muttered, "he was the one to suggest it."

"What?" For a second, Kakashi forgot about acting. He stared at Ko, facts, conjectures and disorientation suddenly tumbling into a tangled mess in his mind. He had wanted to know how the three had convinced Danzo to join them – but had it, in fact, been the other way around? Then why deny them the help when they needed it most?

Suzu asked just that.

"He said to wait," Nobuki said.

"Wait?" she snapped. "I've waited _years_. You've been suffering for even longer, and it's not like Ko's got a whole lot of time to waste. You want to wait even longer?"

"You know I don't. And we won't. We'll work with what we have."

"How many is that?" Kakashi asked.

"50 give or take."

Kakashi glanced at Shisui, who was quietly following the conversation. "What about the larger clans? Without the Uchiha's support we'll have to deal with the entire Konoha Police Force."

"We're prepared to," Ko said. "This isn't about being careful, this is about doing what's right."

"There's no point in doing anything if it won't even succeed," Kakashi argued. "We need to at least convince Danzo-sama. Or else, even if we do succeed, we'll be executed for treason."

"That's fine," Ko said. Kakashi gave him a disbelieving look. "Our lives are a cheap price to pay if it means uniting the Village."

"Our lives were never important," Nobuki said. "We're doing this to try and save as many people from dying pointlessly, and as long as Sandaime's the commander, they will. They deserve a better future."

"Damn right," Ko said. "I have a year old son and I'll be damned if he has to grow up in this shithole of a world. I have nothing against Sandaime, but if Danzo-sama's able to end the war and make Konoha a safer place, I'll gladly commit treason."

Kakashi was at a loss for words. Suddenly the lines between objective judgement, duty, and sympathy were blurred beyond comprehension. He recognized, that unlike Suzu, Nobuki was fighting for the people of Konoha and Ko for the future of its children. He couldn't brush off those sentiments as easily as Suzu's motive – they lived inside of himself as well.

Unbidden, Midori's voice echoed in the back of his head, as bright and determined as the day they had made that promise.

 _I want to protect the children of Konoha…make sure they can grow up without being afraid of the war._

Kakashi clenched his teeth. What was he doing trying to kill people who shared her will?

"Hatake."

He looked up to see Nobuki watching him and swore silently. His guard had slipped at the worst possible time. Not even a trace of conflict, uncertainty or any other wavering emotion had a place in this situation.

The question that followed was quietly spoken – simple, incidental even – and devastating. Kakashi knew in that instant that his cover was blown.

"What are you fighting for?"

Kakashi opened his mouth, but nothing came out. As if drawn by Midori's voice, his team's words came back to him.

 _It's what we fight for._

 _To protect the future of Konoha and its people._

 _To protect the children._

 _To protect my comrades._

They dragged him, unwilling, into his thoughts. Kakashi remembered the flat answer he had given that day like a leaden weight in his chest. He hadn't known the words to the feelings back then. He had hardly been aware of anything beyond his father's last words, even if they had amounted to the same thing. But he understood now. He had his answer.

He fought for his team – for their dreams and their hopes.

For a second, no matter how irrational he knew the thought to be, he couldn't help but wonder if Midori would still be alive if the war had ended earlier. If the countless people he had seen in memorial portraits over the years would still be surrounded by their friends and family. If only Sandaime –

Kakashi smothered the thought before it could take root. It was pointless thinking about the past. What mattered now was stopping these three. He didn't want to kill them. They – Ko, Nobuki, Kakashi, Obito, Minato and so many others in the Village – were all fighting for the same thing. They shared a common goal.

So why did he have to kill them?

Kakashi took a breath and met Nobuki's eyes. "I'm no different from you. Everyone in Konoha believes in the same thing. Even the Hokage." He paused, doing away with pretense and glaring at the three. "He may not be perfect, but he doesn't deserve to be killed by the people he's trying to protect. That's not the answer."

Suzu swiveled to face Kakashi and drew a short sword from the sleeve of her kimono. "I told you we couldn't trust him," she growled.

Nobuki put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, but his words were directed at Kakashi. "Killing one man can save hundreds of others," he said. "Are you telling me you don't agree to that?"

No. It made sense. It was logical. It was a fundamental rationale that pervaded the shinobi world.

But Kakashi just couldn't see Obito or Minato agreeing to it. Ever. They believed in the Hokage.

Kakashi leaned forward and placed one hand flat on the floor. "I'm saying it's a foolish plan. It's not worth it."

Nobuki was silent a moment, and then sighed. "I'm disappointed, Hatake. I thought you'd be a little more open to reason."

"I'm not the one being irrational," Kakashi replied. His fingers tensed on the floor, pressing hard against the explosive talisman under his palm. "You're throwing away your lives for nothing!"

Nobuki narrowed his eyes, as if in pain, and released his hold on Suzu. "We'll avenge your death too."

Kakashi activated the talisman an instant before Ko and Suzu moved. He threw himself to the right, but felt their weapons graze his arm before the room was filled with the burst and blinding smoke of the explosion. As he rolled, Kakashi rushed through a set of seals and slammed his hand on the floor. Bolts of electricity erupted inside the room, like a lightning storm flashing in storm clouds.

He heard a shout and the doors to the garden crashed open, followed by the tremor of two sets of feet bounding outside. The third was much closer, manifesting itself in a large shadow lunging at him through the thinning smoke.

Kakashi leapt back to where he had last seen Shisui, even as he withdrew a set of wired kunai he had prepared the night before. He threw the weapons, each fixed with an explosive tag, to form a web from floor to ceiling. The best tactic when fighting a close-range specialist was not letting him get into close range.

Kakashi spun around, not bothering to see the talismans sizzle and detonate within the span of a second. He used that time to locate Shisui, backed up warily against the wall beside the small window, now nothing more than a hollow frame after his lightning had shattered the glass. Kakashi grabbed Shisui's arm and dove through the opening, just as the explosion rocked the room behind them.

The two boys tumbled onto the grass outside and Kakashi briefly pressed a hand against the two cuts in his arm. They were shallow, but they overlapped the burn he had barely healed the day before.

Shisui watched his movements and said, "I can't help. I'm under orders to not interfere in any sort of conflict."

"That's fine," Kakashi replied. As long as the boy wasn't fighting him.

He looked around and then pulled Shisui from the ground and into the closest tree the moment Ko crashed through the wall and leapt after them. Kakashi turned and hurled a burst of air at the other shinobi, not waiting to see its effects before leading the way higher up the tree.

Nobuki shouted something from the other side of the garden and Kakashi looked down to see Ko stop in his tracks. The man shot a glance up at the roof of the house where four ANBU stood in the process of erecting a barrier that would trap them inside. With a snarl, the large man darted toward his team and they leapt over the outer wall of the garden before their path was cut off.

As soon as they disappeared, Kakashi propelled himself from the tree to the roof. Three of the ANBU went up in smoke and with them the barrier. Yuki turned and was silent for a moment as Shisui landed beside Kakashi.

"I thought I told you not to make this a public spectacle," he said.

Kakashi waved the matter aside. "We need them alive. This is more complicated than you thought."

"How so?"

"Suzu has a connection to the Mists. Danzo-sama's also involved." He didn't have to say anything about the Uchiha Clan. The brief silence had told him that Yuki was unaware of Fugaku's involvement and his refusal to address Shisui said he would deal with it later.

"Danzo-sama?" Yuki said. "Of course he's involved. He was the one who tipped us off on the plot."

Kakashi froze and stared. That made no sense. Danzo had been the one to suggest the assassination. He could understand if circumstances had changed to make him warn the three to abort their attempt. But sending the ANBU after them? For what reason?

"Is he the one who ordered them dead?" Kakashi asked.

Yuki shook his head. "That was ANBU's decision."

Kakashi felt a sense of unease, as if he was being tested by more than just Yuki and the Jounin exam.

"You mentioned the Mists," Yuki said. "What about them?"

"They have the Sanbi."

Yuki swore.

"They're more use to us alive," Kakashi insisted again. "I'm changing the mission objective."

"No."

"Are you –"

"No!" Yuki snapped. "Remember the rules of the exam."

"This is more important than that!" Kakashi shouted and leapt down from the roof without another word.

"Hatake!" Yuki called, but the boy didn't even look back. The Uchiha swore again and slammed a fist against the side of his leg in frustration.

"Yuki-san?"

He turned to see Shisui blinking up at him with large, red eyes.

" _Stop_ using that to find out who we are," Yuki growled, nevertheless yanking the mask off to pin the boy with a glare. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

Shisui didn't avert his eyes, but his hand curled around the hem of his shirt and gave it a small tug. "Our team's on a mission to a village just across the border and –"

Yuki snorted. "Shisui, kid, I taught you how to frigging _walk_. You think I can't tell when you're lying?"

Color rose into the boy's cheeks and he ducked his head. "I'm not to tell anyone," he mumbled. "Not even a fellow Uchiha."

"…Fugaku-sama, huh?"

Shisui was silent and Yuki heaved a sigh. He had been aware that the Clan's young leader had taken an interest in Shisui's growth this past year. Quiet, observant, and intuitive beyond his years, the boy was hailed by the entire Clan as its latest genius, of a caliber even above Obito.

He had heard rumors of Fugaku personally training Shisui and tasking him with confidential missions, but had never imagined the Clan Head would take such a risk.

"Just tell me one thing," Yuki said. "Did he agree to the plot?"

Shisui hesitated, and then pulled a thin scroll from his pocket. Wordlessly, he gave it to Yuki. The parchment was crumbled and ripped in places, as if it had been hastily grabbed, but the letter was intact.

Yuki read it twice and narrowed his eyes. Forming a simple seal, he burned the scroll to ashes.

"Yuki-san?"

"What?"

"Will Fugaku-sama always choose the Clan over Konoha?"

Yuki paused and frowned. "Why are you asking that?"

"Because that's what Nobuki-san said. That Fugaku-sama would kill the Hokage if it meant bringing the Uchiha to glory."

Yuki grimaced. Almost every Uchiha would choose the Clan over Konoha. It was in their blood and history. In a sense, he was no different. He could see the logic behind Hatake's desire to capture the traitors alive, but the reason Yuki had denied the request had been more than just adherence to the mission's original objective. He couldn't risk Konoha's Intelligence Division discovering the Uchiha's involvement in the plot, as marginal as it may be.

Agreeing to kill the Hokage, though, was another matter altogether – or so he reasoned with himself. Still, he didn't want to push his own beliefs onto Shisui. That would be no better than what the Clan was doing.

He gave a small sigh and shrugged. "As the Clan Head, Fugaku-sama has the responsibility to put the wellbeing of the Uchiha above everything else. You know that. That's the way things are. But what you need to ask yourself, is how that makes you feel."

Shisui dipped his head in thought. "How I feel?"

"The Uchiha isn't everything. See the world for yourself and make your own decisions. That's all I can say."

The boy took it in silently, and gave a slow nod.

"Now, go back to your team," Yuki said. He could hear people's confused voices approaching from the main building. "And don't say a word about Hatake being here."

"I won't."

With that assurance, Shisui disappeared with his favorite _Shunshin_ body flicker and Yuki took off in the opposite direction where his stubborn examinee had disappeared.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi felt the ground suddenly give in under his feet and jumped up onto the nearest tree. Kicking off the trunk, he stiffened in surprise at the sight of Ko pinned to the ground in the grips of the Goat's Earth technique. Bands of wet mud snaked around his body. They immobilized his limbs and strangled his throat, constricting tighter the more he thrashed.

"Don't kill him!" Kakashi shouted. He was about to physically enforce the order when a movement in the corner of his eyes drew his attention and he froze.

On the other side of the clearing, the Buffalo came to a skidding stop in the snow with Suzu's knife buried in his shoulder. Her kimono was in disarray and drenched in blood on one side where she was missing an arm. The Buffalo grabbed her remaining wrist before she could escape and drove his katana through her neck.

In the same moment, Nobuki shot out from the snow behind the ANBU, catching him in an unguarded moment with no way to defend himself. The medic's hands were alight with chakra and Kakashi knew just how much damage he could do with one touch.

Without another thought, he launched himself in their direction, his hands already coming together in a set of seals. He expanded his lungs and blasted a gust of wind at them that knocked all three off their feet. It was too late though. Suzu's body crumbled lifelessly. Nobuki's fingers rammed against the Buffalo's back. The ANBU, even amid the gales, twisted around and slashed his blade across Nobuki's chest and neck.

The wind died down and the Buffalo made another lunge, only to collapse like a dead weight into the snow. Nobuki stumbled to his feet, clutching his throat, and fled.

Kakashi cursed and dropped to his knees beside the Buffalo. The ANBU's body convulsed violently as he gasped for breath. Kakashi threw off the mask to find the shinobi's face grey from lack of oxygen. His mouth was gaping open, but the panic in his eyes told Kakashi he wasn't getting the air he needed.

Before Kakashi could think about how to save him, the Goat shoved him out of the way and heaved the Buffalo onto his back.

"I'll keep him alive," the Goat said. "You take care of the target."

With a start, Kakashi looked back to where he had last seen Ko. The man lay in the middle of a pool of mud, face-down and unmoving.

"I told you not to kill him," Kakashi snapped, feeling something constrict in his chest.

"It was too late for that," the Goat bit back. "Go!"

Kakashi gritted his teeth and leapt after Nobuki, stopping only for a moment to check Suzu's body for a pulse. He found none. Clenching his fists, he kept moving, easily tracking the flecks of blood that marked the trampled snow and following its iron scent.

It wasn't long before he caught up. Nobuki limped along the forest floor and Kakashi saw he was also bleeding from several wounds on both his legs. Kakashi vaulted overhead and landed directly in Nobuki's path.

The medic stopped and leaned heavily against a tree. His hand was pressed against his throat, but the feeble glow of chakra faltered and disappeared. His breaths came as wheezes and blood trailed down his chin. He stared at Kakashi and his lips curled into a grimace.

"ANBU, huh?" he murmured. "I didn't think of that. Thought you were just a spy."

"I'm neither," Kakashi replied. "I don't want to kill you. Surrender."

Nobuki gave a laugh that was nothing more than a soft huff. "They'll kill me anyway. It's too late now."

"Why did you do this?" Kakashi asked. He still didn't understand what Nobuki's motive was. "You're a medic. Your job is to save lives."

"Save lives?" He laughed again. "You can't save a dead person and that's all they brought home. Every single time." He shook his head slowly. "Can you imagine how many people died under my hands? The hopelessness of knowing there's nothing you can do? You don't understand what it's like to be pouring chakra into a body… and then feeling their heart stop like it's your own death."

Kakashi did know. He remembered the terrifying _stillness_ that had taken over Midori when she had died. He knew that helplessness. He understood what Nobuki, Ko, and even Suzu were trying to do. If he had nothing holding him back, it would have been easy to take their side. But something did – something stopped him.

"I've felt so many people die, I sometimes forget what I'm meant to be doing," Nobuki went on. "For _years_. I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't stand knowing that all the medics, my subordinates – _children_ like Rin and Asuka – would grow up feeling this way. There's no hope in this war. Something had to be done." He looked up and his eyes were haunted. "Tell me, if you were in our shoes, what would _you_ have done?"

Kakashi grasped desperately at the _something_ that held him back. The will, so similar to Nobuki's, and yet so different. In a world of grey where nothing felt right anymore, it felt like the one thing that could guide him.

"I would have believed in my team," he said at last. "And they believe in Konoha the way it is now."

"Belief? There's nothing as unreliable as that," Nobuki responded absently. His head hung low. "When you have no one left to believe in, you'll understand what I mean."

Nobuki pushed off the tree and took a step forward, then another.

"Don't." Kakashi raised a kunai in warning. "Don't die for nothing."

Nobuki smiled briefly, looking exhausted and relieved all at once. "I suppose you're right. Will you keep watch over Konoha for us then? And when we meet again in the next life, let us know if belief was enough to save the Village we loved."

Kakashi wanted to tell him to live and watch over it himself. The words were on his tongue when a faint streak of white sliced through Nobuki's neck. Out of reflex, Kakashi jerked back from the blood. But his eyes followed the medic's head as it rolled off the body, his hitai-ate cut loose and fluttering in the air for a second before falling into the red snow.

A heartbeat passed. Then two.

Before any of the facts could settle in his mind, Kakashi lunged forward, over Nobuki's decapitated remains, and threw himself at the ANBU who stood there. With a snarl, he swung down his kunai and felt it clash against the short sword Yuki held.

A sword he hadn't seen in over five years and had never expected to see again – a sword that had just killed the man he had wanted to save.

"Why?!" Kakashi shouted. "Why did you kill him?"

"You know why," Yuki replied.

"He had no fight left in him."

"Exactly. He was prepared to die. He would have died regardless."

Kakashi's hands shook with anger or anguish, he couldn't tell which. His searched furiously for words and found none.

"There's no saving a man with that kind of resolve, Hatake. You should know that." Yuki lowered their locked blades and stepped back. "Much less one who tried to betray the Village."

Kakashi made no reply. Too many thoughts and emotions were wreaking havoc in his mind, stiffening his muscles and choking his breath. He knew it had been useless. He knew Nobuki would have made Kakashi kill him. He even understood that Yuki had acted in part to save him from killing a fellow Leaf. Yet none of that made any of this alright. None of it made sense. Least of all why it made him feel like something was being crushed inside his chest.

He realized he was glaring at the sword in Yuki's hand. It was the only thing that kept him grounded.

"Why is that…" he began to ask, only to find he could barely push words through the constriction in his throat.

"I saw you throwing it away years ago," Yuki replied. He spoke quietly, with none of the mockery or jest that usually sharpened his tongue. His even voice was almost soothing against Kakashi's frayed nerves. "I picked it out of the dump that day and kept it safe. I thought it was about time you took it back. This is the White Fang's legacy."

Not _Sakumo's_ or _your father's_ – the White Fang's. A legend who would never have forgiven anyone who turned their backs on the Village. He knew why Yuki had used it to kill Nobuki.

With his teeth still clenched, Kakashi turned back to the medic's body and couldn't help but feel like he had failed on so many levels.

As if to override the thought, Yuki said, "The mission's a success. Your exam continues. An agent from the assessment team is on standby in Kouzan. He'll be here soon to hear your verbal report."

The exam. He had almost forgotten about it.

"What about the Buffalo?" he asked.

"He'll live. I called for a medic and the Goat's got enough medical knowledge to keep him alive until they arrive."

Kakashi nodded. "Shisui?"

Yuki sighed and sheathed the short sword. "I have a favor to ask," he said, lifting his mask. Kakashi shifted to look up at him. "Don't tell anyone he was here. Not even the ANBU. No one can know the Uchiha was involved. I'll deal with Fugaku-sama."

Kakashi was silent for a moment. He almost thought he could laugh. Now he knew why Yuki had refused to let the traitors live. A small part of him wanted to rave and accuse the ANBU of hypocrisy, but he couldn't. Not when he himself suddenly felt a wave of relief. The dead couldn't harm anyone. No accusations would be turned to Obito and his family.

He sighed and closed his eyes, then gave a nod.

His limbs were heavy. Not just his limbs – everything felt heavy. He hardly heard Yuki say he was going to check on the Buffalo. It was quiet. He didn't know how long he stood there, staring at Nobuki's head before he bent down and closed the shinobi's eyes. He reached out to the damaged forehead protector, but curled his fingers in and straightened without touching it.

"I'm sorry."

He didn't know whether he was apologizing for being unable to save Nobuki and his team – or for feeling their deaths were ultimately inevitable.

Kakashi turned away. The taste of bile filled his mouth.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you all for being so patient, and an extra huge thank-glomp to those people who helped me push through with this! You know who you are :)

.LinSetsu.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Minato stared out the kitchen window, beyond his reflection and into the growing darkness outside. The afternoon snow was picking up wind, whipping itself into an outright storm.

"…to."

He was glad he had made it home from his latest mission before the weather had turned foul. But his thoughts were weighed with concern for his two students. For them, there would be no reprieve from this blizzard and the freezing temperatures it would bring.

"…Minato!"

He looked over his shoulder, though half his mind still lingered outside. The sight of his wife was a reassuring warmth in his heart, even if he had no idea why she was shouting at him and flailing her hand at something behind him.

"Minato! The pan's on fire!"

He blinked and followed the direction of her finger. A small bonfire was dancing on the stove, using two pieces of fish filets and a generous coating of oil as fuel. The sight was more than enough to snap him out of his reverie.

"Shit!"

He dumped the pan into the sink and turned on the tap, only to yelp and jump back as the water made the oil explode with a loud crackle.

Kushina huffed. She brought her hands together to erect a seal over the sink, draining it of air and effectively dousing the flames. Minato eyed the charred remains of what would have been their dinner and grimaced.

"Sorry."

His wife didn't say anything for a moment, which was frightening in itself, but she took his hand instead, and her gentle touch told him she wasn't mad. Minato glanced down and found several angry splotches where the oil had hit, scattered among countless other scars and callouses marking his rough skin.

"I'm fine," he murmured.

"I know. Hold still."

A pale green light flared at her fingertips. It disappeared nearly as quickly as it had come alive, making Minato raise a brow.

"Are you trying to heal me?" Despite his pensive mood, the corners of his lips quirked in amusement.

"Don't you dare say I can't," Kushina growled. Chakra sparked again, far too intensely for any sort of healing technique, and they both jumped back from the jolt it sent up their arms. "I'm so sorry!"

Minato burst out laughing and shook his hand. "If any of our children have terrible chakra control, we'll know who they took after."

Kushina scowled. "And if any of them don't know when to keep quiet, I'm blaming you!"

That made him laugh even harder. Kushina maintained her indignance for a moment longer, before concern returned to her eyes, sobering Minato. Taking a breath, he reached out and curled his fingers around her hand, enjoying the cool touch of her skin as he led them to the table and sat down.

"I received interim reports on Kakashi and Obito's exams," he explained.

"How are they doing?"

"Not bad… I suppose. Under the circumstances."

In truth, he had been horrified at what he had read in the two scrolls the ANBU operatives had given him that afternoon in the Hokage's office. He had known the examiners would go hard on his students but had never imagined they would take the tests to such extremes.

"What is it?" Kushina asked and he realized how hard he was squeezing her hand. He loosened his grip, but she tightened hers in return, insistent.

So Minato told her what he had heard about Kakashi's trials thus far. The meeting had in part been set with the objective to brief Sandaime on the mission to assassinate the leaders of the insurgent group known only as Kokoro. Kakashi's information had been an added supplement and the ANBU assessment team made it clear that they were impressed with what he had extracted from the targets.

Minato, however, found it odd that Kakashi had taken the risk to engage the targets in the first place. If it hadn't been an order, the reason for the encounter was strangely absent. It made him wonder what else his student – or the examiner – had left unsaid.

"They made him do an ANBU mission?" Kushina asked, the distaste clear in her expression. "Hunting traitors no less? Missions like that are given to the ANBU for a reason!"

"I know. But they have complete control over the Jounin exam. That's the condition. Nobody, not even the Hokage, has the right to interfere."

"Still…"

Minato shook his head. The report had described Kakashi maintaining a stable mental condition, but that meant nothing when ANBU standards were off the charts to begin with, coupled with the fact that Kakashi was frighteningly adept at hiding his emotions. He could only hope his student had found a steadfast belief in something that would pull him through the psychological trials. It was one of the only ways shinobi were able to keep their minds grounded under strains heavy enough to break a person.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Kushina asked, quieter now.

"I think so," Minato replied, giving voice to his gut feeling.

"What about Obito?"

He hesitated and then admitted, "I don't know. I'm more worried about him. They're trying to force his Sharingan to evolve."

"Is that even possible?"

Minato nodded. "He's been fighting almost nonstop since the exam began. Even with the soldier's pill, he should be far beyond his physical limits by now. That's when they start messing with his mind."

All the tasks given to Obito – learning new techniques, flushing out hidden enemies, navigating the large expanses of land, and even being tested under illusions – had been nothing more than a foil to deplete his stamina and focus. They merely paved the way to the trial his student was now facing, of a nature so controversial on multiple levels that both Minato and Sandaime had spoken out in protest during the meeting. Not that it had amounted to anything.

"They're using Obito's kindness against him," Minato said. "They know it's his biggest strength, as well as his biggest weakness."

Kushina tilted her head in thought. "I've never thought of kindness as a weakness. Neither do you."

"I think it's one of his best traits." Rare and valuable among shinobi these days. "But his heart and mind are in two different places. If he could, Obito's the type of person who wants to save everyone, regardless of war or borders or politics. That's what his heart wants. But in his mind…"

"He knows it's unrealistic?" Kushina finished. "Even dangerous."

Minato gave a nod. He had tried to guide Obito in the months following Midori's death, but he knew that words alone weren't enough to reconcile that sort of fissure.

Obito, by nature, was a boy who followed his heart. But he wasn't dumb, and the world was too good at stripping children of their unconditional kindness. It made Minato wonder what might have been if things were different. If Obito hadn't been fighting on the frontlines from such a young age – if he hadn't been so talented as a shinobi – would he have been a little more honest with his feelings? Could he have avoided being trapped between logic, duty and his inherent compassion?

More than anything, had Minato been wrong to nurture that kindness, knowing it could someday hurt him?

He was pulled from his thoughts when Kushina wrapped her other hand around his and brought her face close to his, so their noses were almost touching.

"There's no point for _you_ to be doubting yourself," she said firmly. "Now tell me, what are they doing?"

Minato sighed. "You know about the POWs held by the Intelligence Division, right?"

Kushina's eyes widened in surprise, then her expression grew dark and she gave a slow nod as Minato began to explain.

.-.-.-.

Half a day earlier, Obito stood staring at four newly arrived ANBU, each leading a shinobi bound with chakra handcuffs.

He was still trying to calm his racing heart, his breaths materializing as thick billows of vapor in the air. In his hand was a scroll – the prize for which he had been chasing Ryo since the crack of dawn. He hadn't even had time to feel pleased with himself before his sadist of an examiner had announced the next mission.

"Can't you give me a…" The griping words trailed into silence when he saw the prisoners.

He recognized them instantly for what they were. There was no mistaking their crumpled clothes and unkempt appearances. One looked nothing short of a fur ball with a mass of tangled hair and overgrown beard hanging from his haggard face. Another was only saved from the same fate by his bald head, which was dressed instead with stained bandages and half-healed scars.

A third was gagged and blindfolded. The fourth almost looked clean by comparison, but the muscles on his face twitched endlessly and the terror-stricken look in his eyes belonged to one who had been driven over the edge of sanity. None of them were armed and nothing on their clothes indicated their allegiance.

Obito turned to Ryo. "Where are they from?"

The owl mask angled marginally to look down on him. "We're never given enough information. Learn to ask the questions that matter."

"What do you want me to do with them?" Obito asked through tight lips.

Ryo crossed his arms and regarded the prisoners standing several feet away. "They're no more use to Intelligence. We're to execute them."

Obito groaned loudly, feigning exasperation to hide the horror creeping into his mind. "I thought this was the Jounin exam, not a hangman's exam."

"We don't hang people in Konoha."

"It was a figure of speech," Obito grumbled. "So, what? You want me to slit their throats?" The thought of killing helpless people made him feel sick.

"No. Prisoners or not, shinobi have the right to die fighting."

"So what are they doing here?"

Ryo didn't reply. He gave a nod and the agent wearing a deer mask tossed four pouches, heavy with weapons, into the snow at the prisoners' feet.

"The last one standing goes free."

Obito turned to his examiner in disbelief. "Don't tell me this is some sick entertainment you hold whenever you need to get rid of prisoners."

"Of course not. This is your test."

"Care to explain that?" He was almost spitting the words.

"Before he does," the Deer cut in, "I'm going to transfer control of the binding seals on these prisoners." He strode forward until he was standing in front of Obito. "Hold out your hands."

"Seals? Why?" Obito asked, nevertheless pocketing the scroll he had forgotten about and extending his hands.

"Because they'll likely try to kill you both and we have better things to do than sit around and babysit." The ANBU formed a short series of signs and then pressed his palm against Obito's, first the left, then the right. The faint form of a seal sank into his sink, disappearing almost as soon as the Deer withdrew his hand. "If they turn on you, use the standard body-bind technique and kill them."

Obito squinted his eyes and pressed his fingers into his forehead. "I thought they were going to kill each other?"

The Deer shrugged, repeating the process on Ryo's hands. "Ask this guy. Our job is to get rid of the prisoners. Whether that's done by us or you, with poison, beheading, or a battle royal isn't my problem."

"But he's letting one go," Obito pointed out.

"Lucky him." His task finished, the Deer looked between Obito and Ryo and said, "As long as they're gone and no longer a threat to Konoha, I don't care what you do. Just remember, there's only one way to neutralize a shinobi and that's to kill him. As long as they're alive, they're dangerous."

The words sounded like the crack of a whip in Obito's ear. They instantly cleared the fog that seemed to be sinking into his mind, conjuring instead the image of Iku with his one arm, killing Midori.

He clenched, then unclenched his hand. "I know."

"Good," the Deer said. "Ready?"

Obito's head snapped up. "Wait –"

He didn't. His hand rose, and the chakra cuffs fell away from the prisoners' arms. Several things happened in the next seconds. The four ANBU disappeared. The bearded prisoner dove for the weapons and immediately took off, while the bald one wasted no time forming seals. But his ninjutsu was stopped an instant before his hand hit the ground, forcefully restrained by Ryo's paralysis technique.

Obito followed suit a second later, catching the fleeing shinobi mid-air and causing him to crash into the snow. Belatedly, he became aware of the petrified prisoner hunched over in the snow, wailing quietly. The last shinobi was likewise rendered immobile, half his blindfold loose, one hand hooked around his gag while the other was reaching for the weapons.

"Typical," Ryo muttered with a shake of his head. "Give prisoners the freedom of movement and they'll attack without even asking what's going on."

" _I'd_ like to know what's going on," Obito snapped, letting go of the breath he had unconsciously been holding. He looked from one prisoner to the next, making sure they posed no threat. His eyes fell lastly on the sobbing man and he frowned. "What in the world did they do to him?"

"His name is Ando." Ryo paused, as if in hesitation, before continuing. "He was caught two months ago working in a tea shop in Konoha. Turns out he was a spy from the Hidden Rock, so there was plenty of information they wanted out of him. No matter what it cost to extract them."

Obito blinked and stared at his examiner. He hadn't expected a response at all, much less an actual explanation. Ignoring his look of surprise, Ryo went on.

"The bald was one left for dead with heavy head injuries after the last border battle. He doesn't remember anything from the past few years except his name – Tomura – and the fact that he used to lead a Genin team."

"Which Village?"

"Hidden Cloud. Intelligence figured he was either lying or, if not, he would eventually regain his memories. But all he's done is give them trouble. He's sent four guards to the hospital and nearly escaped twice."

Obito regarded the shinobi in question, who was kneeling in the snow and glowering at them. There was plenty of fight still left in him. From an objective viewpoint, his actions during captivity were nothing less than admirable and it was reflected in the way Ryo spoke.

"The other two are Mists," his examiner continued. Indicating the blindfolded man, he said, "That one was discovered trailing one of our teams a few weeks ago. His name is Hinoki. The other one's called Dojima and –"

"Wait," Obito cut in, suspicion finally overriding curiosity at the way his examiner was giving him free information. After all, he had fought tooth and nail for the past few days just to extract simple words of confirmation or even a framework of the tasks he had been given. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because it's beneficial to know who you're going to be working with. The Deer gave me control of Tomura and Hinoki's seals. That makes Ando and Dojima your teammates."

"Wait – working with? Teammates? To do what?"

"The Deer's mission."

" _What?_ " Obito scrunched his face, wondering whether he had suddenly lost half his brain cells or if he was more tired than he had thought. "Could you stop speaking in code?"

Ryo looked down at him, silent. Obito blinked his exhausted eyes and would have sworn time had stopped if the snow hadn't begun to fall thicker and heavier around them. At long last, he thought he heard a small intake of air behind the ANBU mask, but it was quickly disrupted by a nasal voice rising from the ground several feet away from them.

"Are you done whispering love to each other yet? It's getting a little cold down here."

Obito shifted to look at the shinobi – Dojima – half buried in the snow. One of his eyes cleared the white surface and it was glaring at them with clear resentment. Whether it reflected hatred toward Konoha in general, or for being left ignored was beyond Obito's ability to comprehend right now.

Ryo raised his voice to be heard by all four of the prisoners. "As I'm sure you've caught on, this is your execution. Three against three. One of you goes free. You know what that means."

"Three?" Dojima asked.

Ryo indicated himself and Obito. "We're the team leaders."

" _What?_ " Obito didn't even have time to feel foolish before Dojima's voice rose again.

"I suppose we aren't allowed to just kill you and all go free?"

"You can try, but as you can see now, you're at a severe disadvantage."

"No kidding." The Mist snorted. "So you want us to kill the two on the other side first, then turn on our own 'teammate' next. Is that it?"

"More or less."

"Fine, let's go then. I'm cold."

"No, hold up," Obito cut in sharply, turning on Ryo. "This makes no sense! Why are we part of the teams? What does this have to do with me at all?"

Ryo was quiet for a moment. "At the beginning of the exam I asked you what you're fighting for. Do you remember what you said?"

Obito frowned in confusion. "To protect my comrades. What does that –"

"Yes, 'comrades.' That's about as vague as a word can get. Who do you mean by that? Your friends? All of Konoha's shinobi? What about traitors and missing-nin? Suppose we were to form an alliance with the Clouds tomorrow. Could you put aside everything they've stolen from us and protect them too?"

"Is that what this is about? Killing personal emotions?"

"That's for you to think about and decide."

"You could have tested that without forcing these people into a death match. We're more civil than that in Konoha."

Ryo huffed behind the mask. He was laughing. "Civil? That's the first thing that goes down the drain in war. You have two options: kill them all yourself or make them kill each other. Choose whichever you think is more 'civil.'"

Obito shook his head slowly. He wasn't understanding anything. Why was Ryo doing this? What was he testing? All throughout the exam, Ryo's motives had been obscure, but only thinly veiled. A test of stamina, a test of knowledge, a test of aptitude, a test of skills. But this?

This was plain and simple mindless killing.

Was that a qualification for being a Jounin? He thought of the Jounin he knew – Minato, Kushina, his family, other senior members of the Uchiha Clan – and clenched his jaw tight in conviction. No. That wasn't right.

"What if I refuse?" he asked.

"You'll fail."

That was a given. But was status something he wanted so badly he was willing to commit an act like this? The answer was clear.

"I –"

"I forgot to mention," Ryo cut in, "if you willingly withdraw yourself from this exam, Hatake Kakashi will automatically be failed."

"Why?! This is an individual exam!"

"So? I told you, we dictate the rules. Are you still going to finish that thought, now that you have another 'comrade' you need to worry about?"

"You dirty bastard," Obito ground out.

The ANBU laughed again. "Take your time. Think about it. We'll begin when you're ready."

With that, he created a Kage Bunshin and led his two prisoners away, disappearing from sight and beyond Obito's sensory range.

"Seriously, kid, I'm freezing."

Obito sighed and looked at Dojima. True to his words, his rigid limbs were trembling, and his lips were turning blue under the patch of beard.

"Are you a Chuunin or Jounin?"

"Jounin." His teeth chattered. "Why?"

"Shouldn't you know how to regulate body temperature?"

The Mist sputtered. "Are you retarded?! Your oh-so-perfect body-bind paralyzes my chakra too!"

Obito blinked. "Oh, right." The mass of preoccupying thoughts in his mind seemed to be taking its toll.

Dojima continued to rave and rant about kids and idiocy, and was only silenced when Obito raised his hand to signal his willingness to release the technique. A conditional willingness. All the preoccupations in the world couldn't lower his guard in a situation like this.

"What assurance can you give that you won't attack?"

"I wasn't going to anyway."

"Yeah, that's why you took off with those weapons."

"I wanted to shave this damn beard in peace and quiet! Pardon me, but I couldn't exactly see that happening near five ANBU and three prisoners hell bent on killing each other."

Obito studied the Mist for a moment and as bizarre as his attitude was, he felt convinced the prisoner wasn't lying. He released the paralysis and watched Dojima scramble up from the snow and stamp his feet in an effort to warm himself.

With half his attention still on the Mist, Obito glanced at Ando. The man had gone silent and was staring at Obito with wide, fretful eyes. His lips trembled, not out of cold, but something more akin to fear. Obito frowned and weighed his options. It was the first time anyone had shown him such outright terror before they had even fought. He was far more used to dealing with adults like Dojima who mocked and underestimated him.

He took a step in the Rock's direction.

"Don't hurt me! Please!"

Obito winced at the ear-splitting scream, all the more at the desperation that made Ando's voice break into a thin falsetto. Any lingering doubts that he was putting on an act promptly fell away and Obito approached the prisoner.

"Please, please! I've told you everything I know! I'll do anything! Please, just don't hurt me anymore!"

"I won't hurt you," Obito said, "if you do as I say. If you don't – if you even think about attacking me – I'll send you right back to the interrogation room."

"I won't! I swear. I'll listen. I'll do anything you say!"

"Good. I'm going to release you. You'll stand up slowly and wait until I give you further directions. Understand?"

"Yes, yes. Just don't hurt me."

Obito undid the paralysis and watched the Rock rise to his feet on shaking knees.

"So what now?" Dojima asked. He waded through the snow, the weapon's pouch dangling in one hand as he rigorously rubbed his arms. "Can we at least find some shelter so I can shave?"

"There's a cave close by," Obito said, remembering the rocky outcropping he had come across earlier. The snow made it impossible to judge direction, but he picked up on familiar landmarks and led them to it. It was a shallow structure, but the wide mouth guaranteed that he wouldn't get trapped inside if things deteriorated into a fight.

Obito looked around their surroundings but couldn't sense Ryo anywhere nearby. The snow wasn't letting up. Quite the opposite. If he guessed right, it was only mid-afternoon, but it was as dark as dusk and the wind was freezing. If it wasn't for Kakashi's help, he would have been a shivering mess.

Grumbling noisily about the cold, Dojima shook himself like a dog and flopped onto the ground, going right to work on his beard. Ando stood undecided until Obito told him to sit against the wall.

"So you know our names. What's yours?" Dojima asked after a moment of silence. He spared Obito a sideward glance as he hacked off clumps of his beard.

"Obito."

"A pleasure. This your Jounin exam?"

"Supposed to be."

"You don't sound very happy."

"You sound too happy."

Dojima cackled. "You bet. I hate beards. I couldn't be happier right now."

Obito sighed, rubbing his head and trying to gather his thoughts. But it was Dojima who eventually voiced the most pressing, most obvious question.

"What are you going do?"

Obito was silent. There was no way he could reply to that without condemning either one of them to death or betraying Konoha.

"What about you?" he asked instead. "Are you willing to fight a member of your own Village?"

Dojima paused, the kunai angled against his jawline. "You mean the guy called Hinoki? He's not a Mist ninja."

"What?"

"I mean, I can't say I know every member of the Village, but he doesn't have the same… air about him, if you get what I mean."

"I don't."

Dojima shrugged and continued shaving, speaking around grimaces whenever the blade got stuck on a bristle. "The training we go through is unique to say the least. Thanks to that, death doesn't really frighten most of us. But Hinoki was clearly afraid for his life."

"I'd say that's pretty normal," Obito muttered. "If he isn't a Mist, why say so?"

"Beats me. You know that ANBU more than I do. Is he a liar?"

Obito shook his head. "He usually doesn't say anything at all."

Dojima hummed, uninterested. "Doesn't matter anyway. For good or for bad, the Villages we come from isn't important here. If we want to win, we need to work together. Simple as that."

"You actually trust this setup?"

He snorted. "We aren't given much choice. Eh, Ando?"

The Rock ninja flinched and stared at Dojima with wide eyes.

"You want to live, right?"

Through cracked, trembling lips, Ando spoke in a barely audible voice. "I have… no right to. I'm the worst kind of soldier. But they're waiting for me. My family..." He drew his knees closer to his body and hunched over them. "I want to see them. Just one more time."

Dojima stared at the Rock for a while, then went back to shaving. "If you ask me, loyalty is overrated."

"Nobody asked you anything," Obito muttered, but was thoroughly ignored.

"Shinobi aren't made to be loyal. We just happen to swear allegiance to the Village we happened to be born in. We accept it like it's the most natural thing in the world, but we aren't trained to be loyal. We're only trained to follow orders. Loyalty's like an afterthought. When push comes to shove, it means less than shit to us."

Was he talking about Ando or being interrogated in general? Unlike Ando and the other two prisoners, Dojima looked mostly unscathed if somewhat undernourished. It made Obito wonder how much he had revealed to Intelligence. He had heard the underground prison located just outside of Konoha was sparsely populated at any given time, but there had to be more than four POWs. So why had they been chosen? Ryo had said they were useless, but did that mean they had caved under interrogation?

Remembering the bald shinobi's rebellious eyes made him doubt it. "The guy from Hidden Cloud seemed pretty loyal even without his memories," he pointed out.

"Oh, Tomura. He was in the cell next to mine." Dojima waved the kunai dismissively. "Everything he did wasn't out of loyalty to his Village. He just wants to get back to his team."

"Sounds like loyalty to me."

"To his team, not his Village. When you don't have anyone you care for, your Village means nothing."

"So you're saying we're only loyal to our Villages because that's where our friends and family are."

"Generally speaking." The Mist paused. "I mean, there _are_ some shinobi who are loyal to their Villages above anything else, but I pity those kinds of people to be honest. They must be pretty empty inside."

Obito rubbed a hand over his face, realizing that the conversation was veering off topic. He needed to think about what to do. What was the best option? What was he _supposed_ to do? Things had escalated far beyond the scope of an exam now. He was alone with two enemies – told to cooperate with them, kill the other prisoners, and then watch them fight each other to the death.

Dojima was rational and perceptive, but Ando was like an animal driven into a corner. Obito had no idea what either of their skills or specialties were. Despite Ryo's words, he knew they didn't have long. No matter how many times he reviewed his options, they all led to a dead end. Ultimately, he realized it wasn't a matter of choosing anything. He had to make up his resolve.

"How do I look?"

Obito looked up with a start and blinked. Dojima – cleanly shaven and with his hair tied back in a knot – looked ten years younger, no older than Minato's age. His grin stretched lopsided on side, inviting humor and promising easy banter.

Despite the situation, Obito couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "How long haven't you shaven?"

"A year and a half? Nearly two?" Dojima angled his face this way and that to check his beardless appearance in the dull reflection of the kunai's blade. "Ever since I turned myself in."

"You… what?"

"I surrendered. My team was wiped out by a Konoha squad, so I could either die with them or live."

Obito raised a brow. It was no wonder he thought lightly of loyalty.

Dojima chuckled, as if knowing exactly what Obito was thinking. But the subject went to rest with a careless shrug, and he sheathed the kunai back in its holster with a flourish.

"So, Ando," he said, turning to his fellow prisoner. "Here's the plan: we're going to kill Hinoki and Tomura. Then you're going to kill me. After that, you're free. Simple, right?"

Obito gawked. Even Ando looked up in surprise.

"Are you crazy?" Obito muttered. Half his mind immediately weighed the possibility of it being a trap, but Dojima's wry smile wordlessly waved the notion away.

"Believe it or not, I like Konoha," he said. "With no one left waiting for me in the Hidden Mist, I definitely prefer your Village to mine now. Besides, I'll be killed the moment I step foot back home. I told your Intelligence everything I know, after all."

"But if you want to live, you could become a missing-nin or –"

Dojima laughed. "Who said I want to live? I was curious what other Villages were like, so I went along with Konoha. I don't regret it. We had some fun conversations in the interrogation room." He rubbed his smooth chin. "And now that I've shaven, I have no regrets."

"I don't believe you," Obito accused flat out.

"Well, okay," the Mist conceded with a roll of his shoulders, "I offered to become a double agent, so long as they'd allow me to leak some credible information to regain trust back home. But they refused. I can understand why. I wouldn't trust myself either if I were them."

Obito felt like a knot was coming loose in his mind. Strangely, he found himself calming down. Nothing had changed, and he was still surrounded by more predicaments than he cared to think about, but at least he was starting to understand one of them.

"That's it?" he asked. "That's all you wanted?"

"That's it."

Obito rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot."

"I –" Dojima faltered. "What?"

Feeling more like himself than he had since parting ways with Kakashi, Obito stuck a finger into the Mist's face. "Anyone with your sort of attitude is an idiot. You know how many people _want_ to live but can't? How many people we try to save but can't?"

Dojima stared at him for a second before coming to himself and swatting the hand away. "Of course I do. So? You're saying I should want to live because they couldn't?"

"I'm just telling you to stop hating yourself so much."

The pause was longer, more tangible this time.

"What makes you think I hate myself?" Dojima asked quietly.

"A hunch."

Dojima burst into laughter, making Ando flinch again. "A hunch?" He grabbed Obito's head with both hands and scrambled his hair.

Obito yelped and jerked back, but there was no malice in the Mist's actions.

"You cocky brat, lecturing adults on a _hunch_ ," he drawled, his shoulders still bouncing with laughter. "An enemy no less! You should be more worried about yourself. Remember what that ANBU was saying?"

"Huh?"

"About comrades. You need to be finding an answer to that."

"There's nothing to it," Obito said. "My comrades are the people of Konoha and our allies."

"You don't have friends in other countries?"

"It's kind of hard making friends with people trying to kill you."

Dojima chuckled. "True enough. You're lucky then. It's damn hard coming face to face with someone you know on a battlefield and – What?"

"I take it back," Obito muttered, going suddenly very still. A bitter taste rose in the back of his throat as he stared, unseeing, at the cave floor. Just like that, his fleeting equilibrium was toppled. "I know that feeling."

They had defended Misa and her team – people who weren't friends or even comrades – bound only by a naive promise made years ago. What if he had been able to prioritize comrades over others, just as he had told Kakashi the other night? If they hadn't hesitated to kill Misa and her team, would they have been in time to save Midori?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he wanted to smash his exhausted head somewhere. What was he thinking. What sort of human did that make him?

"You know," Dojima mused, "I've seen people who can throw away just about everything they love and value for the sake of something they believe in."

Obito slowly looked up, dragged from his hopeless thoughts and self-disgust.

The Mist met his eyes and went on, "But in your case, I think it's a lot simpler than that. How you define comrades isn't about logic or an ideal. It's emotions."

"Meaning?"

"You're thinking too hard. Just save the people you like and don't give a rat's ass about anyone else. Doesn't matter what Village or country or alliance."

It took a moment for the meaning behind those statements to fully sink in and when they did, Obito was forced to clap a hand over his mouth to smother the snort that rose in his throat.

"You find that funny, huh?"

"No, it's just…" Obito gave up and let the grin break out across his face. "You sound like a kid in the playground."

"You're the last person who has the right to be calling people kids," Dojima grouched.

Obito gave a bitter smile. "Just save the people I like, huh? That sounds pretty selfish."

"Suits me fine." The Mist threw his weight against the wall with a petulant twist of his lips – and then lurched forward just as quickly in the next second.

Obito too, was on his feet, the Sharingan activated and straining to catch sight of the three approaching presences. "He's earlier than I thought," he muttered. "So much for coming up with a plan."

"Sometimes the best plans are no plans," Dojima said, rising to his feet with a stretch. He glanced at Obito's eyes and raised a brow. "An Uchiha, huh?"

Obito frowned, undecided for a moment. "Are you really a prisoner?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just… wondering." In truth, he had suspected Dojima was aligned with Ryo in some way. A Konoha shinobi in disguise or cooperating in exchange for freedom. But his look of confusion just now had been genuine.

He sighed. Whatever the case, they were out of time.

Steeling his heart, Obito turned his focus out into the snowstorm and swallowed the irritation he felt toward himself for still being unable to make up his mind. He had no plan. He didn't know what Ryo's real objective was. There was no guarantee he was doing the right thing. But prisoners or not – enemies or not – Ando and Dojima were his responsibility now. He wasn't going to let them die.

"Here's my only order," Obito said. "When we're finished with Hinoki and Tomura, stop right where you are. I'm not going to let you kill each other."

"I don't think you'll have much choice," Dojima said. "Besides, there is no 'we.' You're going to stand back and keep an eye on that ANBU. Find out what he's up to."

"Fine. Ando," Obito glanced at the Rock, who was still balled up against the wall. "If you want to live, get up and fight."

"You want to see your family again, don't you?" Dojima added. He hooked a finger around the kunai he had been using to shave and took a step outside the cave. "All you have to do is kill three more people."

"Two," Obito corrected, but his voice was muted by the wind.

Ando lurched to his feet and stumbled after them, muttering a string of incoherence under his breath. His teeth chattered, and his breaths came in ragged gasps. Obito spared him a glance, even as he glimpsed the first shadow of their opponents emerging through the blizzard.

"Fight back," he commanded.

His impromptu words echoed in his head as they took off in different directions. Fight back? With a start, he recognized just how distorted the perspective was, and then he realized exactly where it had come from – pity. A chill far colder than the wind and snow spread inside him.

Wasn't it pity that had driven him to spare Iku?

* * *

 **A/N:** Soooo. I'm late, I know. Sorry!

I received some requests to show Obito's part of the exam, so this is it. I was planning to fit it all into one chapter, but it snowballed into something a little bigger.

I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for your patience and support!

.LinSetsu.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

It didn't take five seconds for the situation to spiral out of control.

"Help me!"

Obito skidded to a halt on the forest floor and looked up to see Hinoki barreling toward Ando. For a second, he thought it was the Rock who had screamed, but after a brief clash, Hinoki rushed past Ando, and shouted again for help. His head swung right and left, looking for something – or someone.

Obito jumped up into a tree, partly to hide and partly to get closer. As the distance between them closed, he could hear the other's pained groans and saw him clutching his side as he lurched unsteadily from branch to branch.

Had Ando injured him? If not, that meant something had happened on Ryo's side.

Ando recovered his balance and attacked again, just as a second figure darted down the tree from above – Tomura. He was aiming for the two who were swiping and lunging at each other with fist and kunai. He was almost within striking range when Dojima leapt in to intercept him and they both tumbled out of sight.

Hinoki ducked under Ando's wild strikes and dove for a lower branch, only to cry out as a barrage of shuriken rained down on his back. Obito snapped his head up to see Ryo descending on them with speed that surpassed even the Sharingan's enhanced perception.

His aim –

For a second, Obito met Hinoki's eyes – wide, panicked, desperate.

"I'm from Konoha! Help me!"

Obito was moving before he even knew it, propelling himself toward the branch Hinoki had fallen onto. But Ando was already there, throwing himself onto Hinoki and screaming words Obito couldn't make out.

"Stop! Ando!"

Only when Ando froze, his kunai raised over Hinoki's throat, did Obito realize he had activated the paralysis seal. Before he could even realize his mistake, Ryo's katana impaled Ando's neck and buried itself in Hinoki's chest.

Obito tumbled onto the branch to see Ryo giving the blade a deft twist and pulling it out. Hinoki wheezed. Ando vomited blood and collapsed. Obito stared at them, his mind blank.

"What are you…"

His words were so weak they were drowned out by the sound of Hinoki's gasps.

"Help… me… please…" He tried to turn, and Ando's body slid off the branch.

Obito lurched forward to grab him, but his fingers only caught the worn fabric of the prisoner's shirt. It ripped like paper under the strain on his weight. The man wasn't even conscious anymore, and Obito knew he would never wake up again. Not with the blood pulsing out of his neck like that. Numb, Obito watched him fall, distantly aware of the tears staining Ando's ashen skin.

What… had just happened?

A hand grasped his leg and jolted Obito back to the present. Hinoki, twisted on his side, was staring at him with wide eyes, his mouth open and dark with blood. His lips moved, and it took Obito a moment to make out what he was saying.

"…I told them everything I know… about Kokoro. I regret ever joining them. I swear. Please… I pledge my life to the Hokage… Give me another chance!"

Kokoro? Another chance? Nothing he said made sense to Obito. More confused than ever, he tore his eyes from the wounded shinobi and glared at the ANBU.

"You said he was a Mist."

"I lied."

"Why?! What's a Konoha shinobi doing as a prisoner?"

"He committed a crime. Why else? He's a traitor. They were plotting to kill Sandaime."

Obito stiffened.

"I'm sorry," Hinoki pleaded. "I was wrong. I was tricked. I never –"

Ryo raised his sword and swung it down. Out of reflex, Obito threw his weight against the blade, clashing against it with a kunai. The ANBU withdrew a step and then lunged forward again, but Obito refused to move from his position in front of the prisoner.

"Do you realize what you're doing?" the ANBU asked.

"He's a Konoha shinobi," Obito shot back, straining against the force behind the katana. "No matter what he's done, he doesn't deserve to die like this."

"Is that your answer?"

"What answer?"

"Never mind." Ryo pulled back once again and sheathed his sword. Instead, his hands came together in a seal. "Uchiha Obito, Chuunin; protects a convicted criminal in an act of treason. As such, you can either die with your precious 'comrade' or be treated as a criminal yourself."

"Wait, you can't be serious," Obito shouted.

The ANBU didn't reply. He slammed a foot against the branch and whatever ninjutsu he used, it splintered the wood with a loud crack. The branch plummeted, throwing Obito off balance. He dove after Hinoki but was immediately forced to twist around and block Ryo's kick that shoved him away from the falling shinobi.

He wasn't given another chance to help Hinoki as Ryo unleased attack after attack, seamlessly weaving elemental techniques in between taijutsu strikes that Obito was barely able to dodge. A frantic look around the area revealed the wounded prisoner slumped against the trunk of a tree some ways down, unmoving. Even if his wounds weren't fatal, it was only a matter of time before he bled out.

Obito snapped his eyes away just in time to see Ryo's blade rising straight for his neck. It was only with the Sharingan's vision that he was able to throw his weight back and get away with a shallow cut that ran up his cheek.

A flurry of shuriken flew between them before they had the chance to clash again and Obito swung around to see Dojima making his way down from a higher position in the tree.

"What the hell is going on?" the Mist demanded, landing on a branch close by.

"I don't know," Obito replied truthfully. The ANBU withdrew to an adjacent tree and was shortly joined by Tomura, who was bleeding from his leg. Obito glanced at Dojima to see him pressing against a wound on the right side of his stomach. Were the two equal in strength? Dojima noticed his look and gave a rueful smile.

"He also fractured a couple of ribs."

Obito frowned. Of course they weren't equal. Dojima had spent the last two years in a cell while Tomura had been on the frontlines until recently.

"Hey, I can tell what you're thinking," the Mist grouched. "I'll have you know I'm more of a stealth fighter."

"I believe you. Just don't get hurt anymore."

"I'll try. Ando's dead?"

Obito bit his lip and nodded.

Dojima didn't ask for details. "And now they're targeting Hinoki for some reason?"

"He's a Leaf. Ryo said he plotted against the Hokage."

There was a pause. "I see."

Obito wanted to ask _what_ he saw, because he wasn't seeing anything, but his attention shifted when the ANBU called out his name.

"This is your last warning. If you keep trying to protect Hinoki, I'll kill you with him."

He wasn't joking. Obito had noticed a difference in the way Ryo fought. While he had always been unforgiving, there was now a colder, more brutal edge to his attacks that held a clear intent to kill.

"Are you out of your mind?" Obito shouted back. "Everyone makes mistakes. He regrets it. Killing him only weakens Konoha."

"As if he was a force to be reckoned with? He only regrets it because he was caught. Let me be clear. There's one thing I won't ever forgive, and that's betrayal."

Dojima hummed quietly. "That's why he chose to save Tomura, huh?"

"It's not that I forgive what Hinoki tried to do either," Obito muttered, "but he failed. His death is pointless."

"You going to save him?"

Obito was about to nod when he stopped himself and glanced at Dojima, realizing how selfish that would make him. He had no idea whether the 'rules' were still in play, but if they were –

"Don't give me that look," the Mist said. "I always planned to be the second to last one standing. Now what's your plan? We don't have much time."

He was right. Now wasn't the time to be second-guessing himself.

"Knocking Ryo out comes first. I'll play by ear after that."

Dojima gave him a horrified look. "I know I said we don't have time, but… Please tell me you aren't the strategist on your team."

"I'm not," Obito growled. "That's Kakashi's role."

"Thank heavens," the Mist chuckled. "Oh, here we go."

Whether they were finished coming up with a plan of their own or unwilling to give Obito and Dojima anymore time, Ryo and Tomura took off from their branch.

Tomura attacked first. Obito caught sight of his seals and recognized the basic sequence he had seen Kakashi perform countless times. He had a second to regret not putting more time into mastering the Reverse Wind. Instead, he collected chakra in his lungs and released a Fuuton gale that collided and scattered the lightning attack in a bright flash.

Dojima used the opportunity to blindside the Cloud, so Obito turned his attention to finding Ryo. His priority was neutralizing the ANBU. Then he would wait for the Deer and explain…

Both his thoughts and movement came to a grinding halt. The Deer knew about Hinoki. There was no reason to believe he didn't. That meant the ANBU and Intelligence had both agreed to Hinoki's fate. Had the Hokage? Was Obito the only one trying to save him?

He almost didn't sense the attack until it was too late. A gust of wind sliced straight through the branch he was standing on, forcing Obito to throw himself out into the air. A faint disturbance above him was the only warning he got. He barely saw the glint of a blade before the ANBU's katana sliced into his left shoulder, the metal protector on the back of his right hand the only thing keeping the sword from cleaving further into his body.

Biting down on the pain, Obito flung an explosive kunai into Ryo's stomach, but the ANBU deftly twisted out of its trajectory. As it burst harmlessly above them, Ryo kicked Obito into a tree and made straight for the forest floor.

Gasping for breath and clutching his bleeding shoulder, Obito chased after him, half leaping, half falling down the tree. Hinoki was staggering through the snow not far away. It wouldn't take three seconds for Ryo to catch up to him.

"Don't!" Obito screamed.

Someone shouted his name at the same time.

Even before he turned, he felt Tomura's presence – his hatred, his malice – closing in behind him. With a sinking feeling, he realized they had planned this. They had predicted Obito would rush after Ryo, creating the perfect opening for Tomura to attack.

But he couldn't stop now.

Risking a kunai to the back, he planted his foot on the nearest branch and was preparing to push off with a burst of chakra when Dojima dove in between them. Obito froze, his eyes widening in horror. He could tell. The Sharingan showed him Tomura's weapon cleaving into Dojima's neck.

"Go!" the Mist shouted.

If he did, he might be able to save Hinoki.

But if he did, he would be making the same mistake all over again.

Midori would never forgive him.

For a second, his sight blurred, and then grew sharper than he had ever experienced. Obito locked gazes with Tomura and the Sharingan spun, adding a third tomoe in each eye.

The illusion's effect was immediate. The Cloud stiffened and his hand jerked back. It was all the time Obito needed to twist Tomura's arm and plunge the entire length of the kunai into his neck. The prisoner coughed, choking on his blood, and by the time the genjutsu cleared from his mind, his failing body was falling down the tree.

Dojima crashed onto the branch. Through shallow gasps, he pushed himself upright to stare at Obito. "Why'd you do that? What about Hinoki?"

"Too late now," Obito muttered. He turned and searched the forest. The thickening darkness and relentless snow made it hard to make out anything, but he soon spotted Ryo standing over a bloody mass on the ground.

"Looks like it," Dojima said. "Why, though? You could have made it."

Obito gave a wry smile devoid of amusement. "I liked you better than I liked Hinoki. That's all."

Dojima was silent and Obito said nothing more. He was exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to drop down and sleep for days. Forget everything.

But the faint crunch of feet landing on snow refused to grant him the dream. Obito tensed, facing Ryo and the Deer who stood in front of them on either end of a forking branch.

"We confirmed Tomura and Ando's deaths," the Deer said.

"I killed Hinoki," Ryo added. "That leaves Dojima."

Obito put himself between the two ANBU and the Mist. "You said the last one standing goes free."

"That's up to him," the Deer said. "We're taking him back to Intelligence."

Dojima raised a brow. "Did they forget to ask what color underwear I'm wearing?"

"Trust me, they know." For the first time, there was a hint of humor in the Deer's voice, as fleeting as it was. "They have a proposal to make."

At this, the Mist perked up. "What, they changed their minds?"

"Their minds weren't made in the first place. It depended on your actions today." He nodded to Obito. "You put your life on the line for a Konoha shinobi."

"Maybe I just took a liking to this brat," Dojima said, poking a finger into Obito's leg. The Uchiha scowled down at him but held his tongue.

"Nevertheless," the Deer continued, "we brought you here to place you under observation. We've determined that we may be able to trust you."

"Maybe, huh?"

"You can refuse if you want. Like I said, it's up to you."

Dojima smirked. "Something tells me my life isn't guaranteed if I refuse."

"Wait," Obito began, but Dojima cut him off by grasping his shoulder and heaving himself to his feet.

"It's fine. It's a better deal than just going free." He grinned. "I owe you. You're the one who saved my life in the end."

Obito started to be speak, then just shook his head. In that split second, faced with the two choices, Dojima's words had rung true, but its essence sat so uneasily inside him that he wasn't able to voice it just yet.

Whatever the Mist thought of his silence, he gave Obito's shoulder a pat and then jumped down with the Deer, leaving only a small patch of blood on the snow where he had last stood.

"They'll treat him, won't they?" Obito asked. The pain of his own wound penetrated back into his mind and he pressed a hand gingerly against it.

"They won't let him die, that's for sure," Ryo replied. "As for you, you still have a technique to learn."

Obito frowned. "The exam's still on? I thought you were going to kill me for trying to save Hinoki?"

"What I said was true. I won't ever forgive traitors. But my sole mission for this exam was that," he said, pointing to Obito's eyes. "There's little point in killing something I worked so hard for."

"You mean…" Obito stared and felt his mouth falling open. "This whole thing was for the Sharingan? The prisoners? Your spiel about comrades? It was all a setup?"

The ANBU's voice turned hard. "I meant it about your naïve ideals. We're lucky if we can save just the people closest to us. Usually, we fail even that. And here you are wanting to save everyone from Konoha? That sort of wishful thinking is only going to put your team in danger."

Obito gritted his teeth. He had no words. In the end, Dojima and Ryo were saying the same thing. He had to choose. But he had already. Just the other night, he had agreed with Kakashi that sacrifices had to be made. Did he have to narrow down his priorities even more?

Was he that weak?

He pushed up his goggles and pressed his fingers against his eyes. The prickling heat seemed to burn his freezing skin while a bitter smile twisted his lips. It seemed the older he got, he kept losing more of himself, chunk by chunk. Was that normal? Was it just him? Was he not cut out to be a shinobi?

Obito tipped his head back and released a shaky breath. The snow blinded him, making him feel like it was trying to bury him alive. His thoughts wandered as he felt his consciousness slip. He heard Ryo's voice as if from a distance and wondered what Kakashi was doing. At the very least, he hoped his teammate was doing better than him.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi had never known he could harbor so much hatred – toward ducks.

For that matter, he hadn't known how ruthless they could be either. He dodged under the thrashing wings of a goose that stood nearly as tall as him and threw a heel into its underbelly. He barely had time to regain his footing on the river before another one tried to skewer him with its unnaturally sharp beak. Kakashi snatched a kunai and drove it down on the bird, but a shuriken flew in from the side, knocking the weapon from his hand.

With a growl Kakashi threw himself to the side and shuddered as the freezing water splashed over him.

"Hey now, don't hurt my precious friends," Yuki drawled. He sat cross-legged on a boulder in the middle of the river, his chin propped lazily in one hand.

"They're as tough as bricks," Kakashi snapped. For evidence, he pointed to the goose he had kicked without a shred of concern for its wellbeing. It was wading happily in the water among a dozen others, all of different shades and sizes – all equally savage. His clothes were torn from countless lacerations and one of the birds had dug especially deep into his half-healed burn wound.

"Aren't they the best?" Yuki said, stroking the feathers of a tiny grey duckling sitting in his lap.

"Best of the worst maybe," Kakashi muttered, but his words were drowned out by the drone of a waterfall several hundred feet behind Yuki. This close, the water's current ran strong beneath his feet, chipping his concentration. Under any other circumstance, he wouldn't have given it a second thought, but he had been standing on it for over a day and half, all through the snowstorm the previous night.

While the blizzard had let up in the early hours of the morning, the sky was still overcast and the wind bit into his wet clothes. He glared at the ducks. If only they would stop attacking him every time he tried to approach the ANBU.

Placed on the rock beside Yuki was the White Fang's sword. Kakashi's task was to retrieve it. But in addition to the ducks, his examiner was surrounded by a barrier ninjutsu. He only knew one of counteracting seal that could disable a standard barrier, but it was clear this wasn't a low-level technique. That left brute force as the only option, which he suspected was the ANBU's aim all along. The only trouble being, it had withstood every single one of his attacks.

He could just imagine Obito falling over with laughter when he heard about this ridiculous situation.

"Speaking of summoning animals, when are you going to sign the contract with the dogs?" Yuki asked.

Kakashi frowned. "I'll do it when I need them."

In truth, he had already considered it, numerous times. Yet each time, he had rolled the scroll back up, reluctant to face the pack that had stood so faithfully by his father's side.

As if seeing right through Kakashi's lie, Yuki smiled knowingly. "You'll be okay, kid. If you ask nicely, I'll even hold your hand for you."

"If you're so eager to lose that hand," Kakashi replied.

Yuki made a face. "Jokes aside, sign the contract. Kuchiyose animals have powers that most of us will never achieve. As you can see here."

Kakashi eyed the multi-colored geese with no small amount of doubt.

"Not them," Yuki said. He gestured to the barrier. "This. I'm not a barrier expert, but with Tsuruhime's help, I can make something powerful enough to keep most people out."

"Tsuruhime?" Kakashi glanced at the fuzzy gosling under the ANBU's hand. "That doesn't look like a crane."

Yuki rolled his eyes and was about to speak again when his attention turned to the sky. A dark bird was flying low over the trees and headed straight for them. Kakashi watched it glide unhindered through the barrier and land on the ANBU mask sitting on top of Yuki's head.

He had guessed it wasn't an illusion from the way his examiner occasionally threw physical weapons from inside the invisible dome, but seeing the messenger bird confirmed it. He went through his mental list of techniques once again, desperately looking for something powerful enough to decimate the barrier. He had already tried every Suiton and Raiton that he knew of, and they were the most destructive ones in his arsenal. Even a combination of them hadn't worked.

Then there was the Rasengan. He knew Minato could likely penetrate the barrier, but his was far inferior to his teacher's. That had been proven in the early morning hours when he had tried and failed. The only way to create something more powerful was to combine it with his primary affinity. Something even Minato hadn't yet accomplished.

A low whistle sounded from Yuki.

"Guess what? Obito's still hanging on by a thread."

"You make it sound like some sort of miracle."

"It is. I honestly didn't expect him to make it this far. Especially since I ordered Ryo to force the Sharingan to evolve."

Somehow, it didn't surprise Kakashi that Yuki had been behind it. For someone who didn't possess the Clan trait, he certainly made free with the people who did.

"Did he manage?" Kakashi asked.

"He did. Barely."

Kakashi felt relief, and at the same time, an undeniable sense of urgency. He didn't have the leisure to be wavering over what he could or couldn't do. Not when his teammate had cleared one of his biggest obstacles.

His mind made, he raised his hands, but paused when he saw the thoughtful look on Yuki's face.

"What?"

"I was just thinking how different you are to Obito."

Kakashi frowned in confusion. "I'd hope so."

Yuki chuckled. "Of course. You're nowhere near as soft-hearted as him. By the way, I've never asked you what your dream is."

"My… dream?" The unexpectedness of the question threw him off.

"Let me guess, you've never thought about it, have you?" Yuki sighed, exasperated. "Every kid should have a dream, Hatake. Shame on you."

The only dream he had ever had was to make his father proud. After Sakumo's suicide, he hadn't regarded any of his goals as 'dreams.' Aspirations maybe. Resolutions for certain. But not dreams.

"I don't have any."

Yuki slapped a hand over his eyes and gave an exaggerated sob. "Oh, how tragic. A child without dreams."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "You should be an Academy teacher."

The Uchiha peered at him from between his fingers. "You think dreams are childish, huh? Well let me tell you something. Even the strongest resolves can break under enough pressure. I've seen it happen. Same with ambitions and determination, not to mention flimsy hopes. But dreams don't break. They're inherent and surprisingly tough."

"What's yours then?"

"You think I'd tell the likes of you?" Yuki replied in a sing-song voice.

Kakashi groaned, sorry that he had even asked. He took a breath and sighed. "I don't have a dream, but Obito and sensei do. Midori had one too. I'll fight to make their dreams come true. That's all."

"There's nothing you want to accomplish? No vision you want to realize?"

"Theirs is all the world needs."

Yuki was silent for a moment, then he smiled. "I see. That's not bad either. Now," he said, striking a different tone. "Are you done thinking? My ass is ice cold. I'd like to get up soon."

Swallowing the complaint that _he_ was the one who had initiated the conversation, Kakashi took several steps back and formed a sequence of seals in response.

"You tried that already," Yuki grouched. "Be a little more…"

He fell silent when Kakashi slammed his lightning affinity into the Rasengan swirling in his hand. He gritted his teeth, struggling to keep his element from bursting into chaos. But it was a losing battle almost as soon as it had begun. Flashes of lightning spilled out from the Rasengan and disrupted its spin. Within seconds it was collapsing out of control, at which point Kakashi had always given up.

This time though, he continued to pour electricity into his hand, using it to scrape together whatever was left of the Rasengan. His skin felt like it was burning. Still, he gathered his chakra and forced it out, distantly aware of a screeching sound coming from the blinding light in his hand.

He knew it was a complete failure. But it was all he had.

With a bolt of lightning through his legs and chakra-enhanced speed, he flew over the water, covering the distance between them within a second. He heard Yuki shout and saw the flock of geese disperse, but the landscape blurred into obscurity on either side of him.

It didn't matter. His target wasn't moving. He threw his hand against the barrier and thought his arm would break from the force of the impact. Then he felt it. Something splintered and gave way.

Yuki threw himself to the side an instant before they collided. Kakashi, unable to stop his momentum, barely managed to snatch his father's blade before tumbling headlong into the water.

He came up with a gasp and heaved himself onto the water's surface on shaking limbs. His right arm was numb, and he thought he could still hear the screech in his ears even over the sound of his own harsh breathing.

"What the hell was that?" Yuki demanded. He stood tense on the river, the gosling still in one hand while the other rubbed a cut on his cheek.

Not what he had intended, was all Kakashi knew. He just shook his head and staggered to his feet, holding his trembling arm close to his body.

"I was surprised enough that you can use the Rasengan," Yuki said. "Don't tell me that's what it looks like when it's combined with your nature."

"No, that's what I was aiming for, but it didn't work." He had felt a difference in the way the chakra had flowed. A different destructive force. At any rate, the fact that it had broken through the barrier meant it could do more surface damage than his Rasengan.

The ANBU looked thoughtful. "Whatever it is, develop it so you can use it in live combat. Stealth and speed are all good, but you need something more for when push comes to shove."

Kakashi could already see a few obstacles for that to happen but stayed silent on those counts. Instead, he glanced at the short sword in his left hand. "What do you want me to do with this?"

"What do you mean, what do I want you to do with it?" Yuki scoffed. "Use it. It's yours. That chakra blade was made specially for Sakumo-san. Anyone can use it, but you're now the only one who can use it to its full potential."

"I have no intention of becoming White Fang the Second," Kakashi said, nevertheless strapping the sword across his back. His wet clothes made him shudder and cringe.

Yuki laughed. "Don't worry, you'll get a name of your own. Like the Baby Fang."

Kakashi refused to rise to the bait or waste any more needless energy. Instead, he trudged over to the rock Yuki had been sitting on and swallowed a breath of relief at feeling solid ground under his feet.

"Tired?" Yuki peered into his face. "The fun part hasn't even started yet."

"What now?" Kakashi had never known how long a week could feel. He tried to calculate how much time was left, but the nights and days bled into each other.

"You have 33 hours," Yuki said, "to send me to the hospital. If you can't do that _and_ get back to the East Gate, you're out. I'll be aiming to do the same."

"Have you stopped pretending you're trying to kill me?"

The ANBU shrugged, unrepentant. "Doesn't mean I won't break both your legs."

He shifted the little duckling to his shoulder and signaled the rest of the geese to return to their domain. Then with a groan, he stretched his back and grumbled about sitting still for so long.

Kakashi watched him from the corner of his eyes, and then said, "Yuki-san."

The Uchiha blinked. After all, it was the first time Kakashi had called him by name. He turned – and Kakashi hurled a fist into his face.

The force of it sent the ANBU stumbling back with an unmistakable _pop_. He immediately rolled into a defensive stance, his laid-back air gone and replaced with instinctive lethality. Kakashi was glad he hadn't risked a follow-up attack. It could have cost him an arm.

Yuki swore sharply, but with his jaw hanging open in a distinctly crooked position, his words came out as an angry scream. Breathing shallowly, he cradled his face and grimaced.

Kakashi crossed his arms. "Is that enough for you to go to the hospital?"

Yuki's eyes narrowed dangerously, and with a jerk of his hands, he snapped his jaw back into its joint. He moved his mouth a few times, clearly in pain, before spitting, "You fucking brat."

"That's for the broken nose."

"It is, is it?" Yuki pulled down his mask with a violent jerk. "You have a lot of nerve, I'll give you that. Better pray it's enough."

Kakashi shrugged. Whatever happened in the next 33 hours, at least he felt a shade more satisfied than he had just moments ago.

* * *

 **A/N:** Some serious, some humor. Heading into the final stretch of the exam :)

Thanks for taking the time to read! Hope you enjoyed.

.LinSetsu.


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